Important to prepare for both seam and spin: England batting consultant shares strategy for India tour

While praising India’s rounded bowling attack, England batting consultant Jonathan Trott recently revealed that he is preparing the visitors to deal with both spin and fast bowling. The first of the four-Test series begins on Friday (February 5), at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Despite India inherently being a spin-dominant side, their pace department has grown in stature over the last four years. Jonathan Trott shed light on India’s latest performance Down Under, as he spoke about the importance of having the skillset to negate both the bowling attack and conditions in India.

“We saw their pace attack in Australia do really well and they are talented all-round with the ball. So for batters, as you go around the world nowadays, everyone’s got a good pace attack you’d say. So that’s crucially important to prepare for both – confronting with the new ball that perhaps will do more with the seam and spin in the middle, and probably the seamers being able to do a very good holding job."

"So your skill level has to be very, very high and playing in the humidity and heat in Chennai, you’ve to be very fit and very switched on,” Jonathan Trott said during a virtual media conference on Wednesday.

Since 2015, Indian pitch curators have refrained from dishing out rank turners, thus facilitating even contests between two sides. What is more, the pink-ball Test against Bangladesh in November 2019 was India’s first instance of fast bowlers accounting for all 20 wickets at home.

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Joe Root’s captaincy and batting goes hand in hand, says England management

England are on a five-match winning spree in overseas Tests

England have come to India on the back of a convincing 2-0 Test series win in Sri Lanka. While captain Joe Root bagged the Man of the Series award after amassing 426 runs at an average of 106.5, it is alarming that no other top-order batsman has any recent form to fall back on.

Quizzed if the England captain is being burdened by captaincy and now the extra responsibility of leading from the front with the bat, Jonathan Trott disagreed. The former England number three further reasoned that Root can successfully balance both the jobs, and the latter is “very excited” for the series.

“It’s [Joe Root’s captaincy and batting] just hand in hand. You got a lot of responsibility, captaining in India is a skill in itself with regards to conditions and rotating bowlers and spinners. And he’s done that really well, we saw how well he did that in Sri Lanka. And I think it goes hand in hand. It seems to be very natural to him – captaincy and decision-making.

“He has a great presence around the guys as well and it’s going to be a real challenge for everybody, but for Joe, full confidence in his ability with the bat and leading the boys. I know he’s very excited about the series and can’t wait for it to get started,” Jonathan Trott, who scored 294 runs at an average of 42 during England’s 2-1 win in 2012-13, explained.

After playing the first two Tests in Chennai, England and India will head to Ahmedabad for the next two rubbers. The four-match Test series will be followed by five T20Is, before the tour comes to an end with a three-match ODI series in Pune.