In about a week’s time, India and England will clash in a marathon Test series that will not only be a treat for fans of the longest format but also allow the hosts an opportunity to gain lost turf. India and England have met each other in 112 Tests, of which England have won 43 and India have won only 21. The last time India won a Test series against England was in 2008, in a two-match contest.
Since then, India have lost 0-4 in England (2011), 1-2 at home (2012) and then again 1-3 in England (2014). While the home loss was totally unexpected in 2012, in hindsight it is not hard to see why India lost the series. England used India’s strength against them and the English tweakers, Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann, exploited the turning tracks of India way better than the Indian spinners did.
It helped that Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen played memorable innings for their teams. This time around, though, India look firm favourites to clinch the series for a variety of reasons. Here are a few:
#1 Inexperienced England team
In 2012, Cook, Pietersen, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior scored 562, 338, 294 and 258 runs respectively, occupying four of the top 5 spots in terms of runs scored. While Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin picked up 20 and 14 wickets respectively, Swann, Panesar and James Anderson had claimed 20, 17 and 12 wickets to occupy three of the top 5 spots amongst wicket-takers.
However, the English team touring India this time is extremely inexperienced, with only Cook and Joe Root being the players who have consistently played for England in whites over any decent length of time. England is heavily reliant on Ben Stokes, who despite his excellent all-round form with bat and ball, is still not well-versed with the sub-continent.
England would be relying on players like Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Gary Ballance and Ben Duckett to support Cook and Root and none of those names strike fear in the hearts of bowlers. The bowling front too is thin with the exception of Stuart Broad, who will be making his 100th Test appearance.
#2 English batsmen’s struggle against Bangladesh
England wouldn’t really be starting on a high after their shock defeat against Bangladesh. Even the first Test that England had pulled off against the hosts, Bangladesh, was an extremely close one. The batting averages under sub-continental conditions against a decent bowling line-up, but nowhere as close to the Indian quality, tells a story. Stokes scored 128 runs in 2 Tests at 31.5 and was England’s highest run-getter.
Chris Woakes, primarily in the team for his bowling, was third on the run-getters’ list for England with 110 runs. Woakes had scored 177 runs in 4 Tests in the home series against Pakistan and was England’s 6th highest run-getter there. Ballance, despite the opportunities, hasn’t really been able to evoke confidence.
In 4 Tests against Pakistan at home, he scored 195 at 27.85. In Bangladesh, he managed just 24 runs at 6.00. Interestingly, there aren’t too many replacements available for him. That is a serious concern for England that is heavily reliant on Stokes, Root, and Cook to pile on the runs against the Indian assault.
#3 Swann-Panesar to Ali-Rashid
While Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid are good spinners in their own right, they are hardly a match to the Panesar-Swann pair that tormented India in 2012. Ali and Rashid picked up 11 and 7 wickets in 2 Tests in a series where Bangladeshi newcomer Hasan Miraz and veteran Shakib Al Hasan picked up 19 and 12 wickets respectively.
Ali has been consistent with bat and ball. He managed 11 wickets but at an average of 46 against Pakistan at home. Rashid, despite his 37 ODIs has only played 5 Tests in which he has picked 15 wickets. The Indian batsmen are definitely not going to make it easy for him, with their flamboyant strokeplay, especially against spin.
If England are to even challenge Indian dominance, their spinners will have to outdo the pair of Ashwin, currently the world’s best spinner and venomous in sub-continental conditions and Jadeja, who is probably one of the most accurate spinners playing cricket currently. India can also call upon the services of Amit Mishra, whose leg-spin will be adding to the variety.
#4 James Anderson missing
About the only department where England probably had an upper hand over India is the new-ball bowling. The Anderson-Broad pair is one of the deadliest ones over the last decade. While India have Mohammed Shami who is one of the best exponents of the reverse swing, he never had ideal support from the other end, with Umesh Yadav being inconsistent and Ishant Sharma recovering from injury. With Anderson ruled out the opening Tests because of a shoulder injury, England will be looking at Finn to fill the place.
Finn was wicket-less in the one Test he played against Bangladesh. While his height would get him some bounce, his temperament on placid wickets and fast outfields will be under the scanner. Stokes might have to share the burden of seam-up bowling which may mean his batting impact might be affected. Woakes, given his proficiency with bat might get a go, ahead of Finn.
He is brisk and moves the ball and will offer a good challenge. But once again, he is not Anderson, who was effective in the sub-continent with his ability to swing the new ball and the old.
#5 Ashwin and Jadeja on a roll
In the last two years, Ashwin and Jadeja have played 7 Tests in India in which they have picked 58 and 37 wickets respectively at averages of 14.22 and 15.83. Ashwin has played 18 Tests overall in the last couple of years picking up a whopping 113 wickets. Ashwin is amongst all-time greats already, in terms of his speed reaching 200 Test wickets, or the consistency of his 5-wicket hauls.
In the last two years, Mishra has played 7 Tests picking 28 wickets at 20.64, proving to be the ideal foil to Ashwin and Jadeja, if needed. In 3 Tests against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, Ashwin and Mishra picked 21 and 15 wickets respectively at 18.09 and 23.60. In the recently concluded Test series against New Zealand at home, Ashwin and Jadeja picked up 27 and 14 wickets respectively at 17.77 and 24.07 showing their red-hot form.
The pair will be a handful for the inexperienced English batsmen to deal with, especially given that they seemed suspect against consistent spin bowling, something which the former English team to tour India was decent at!
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