England vs India 2018: 5 Things to look forward to in the upcoming Test series

Pitches and the weather

The pitches will play a key role in this series.

It’s been a rather warm summer in England this year. In fact, The United Kingdom is going through one of the hottest and driest summers and there’s a big heatwave going around.

As a result of which, the pitches have been quite dry and the spinners have been in the game more often. In fact, despite a tinge of grass at Lord’s in the second ODI, the spinners got assistance due to the dry nature of the surface. There are talks about how England might not give India a green top because it might just bring the Indian pace attack which did really well in South Africa into play. But if the pitches are devoid of grass, the Indian spinners come into picture and England have struggled against spin in recent times.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly also had his say on this dry England summer and wrote in one of his columns for The Times of India (TOI), “I have been travelling to England every year for the last 20-22 years and have not seen a summer like this. It is very, very hot and the typical moist English conditions is a far cry from what it usually is. It is more like playing in India.”

It will get cooler as the Test series progresses but if the weather continues to stay the way it is, India will not mind it one bit.

Hence, it will be very interesting to see what kind of pitch welcomes the two teams at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Will there be a green top or will England want just a tinge of grass or will the dry conditions prevail?