India's tour of England 2014: The ideal bowling combination for India

Although his Test career has been relatively short and insignificant, Bhuvneshwar has displayed enough promise to thrive in the ultimate format of the game. With his customary movement in the air that bemuses batsmen, Bhuvneshwar accumulates his prizes by frequently forcing the opposition to play down the wrong line.

In the seamer friendly conditions of England, Bhuvneshwar is expected to provide plenty of opportunities for the slip fielders during the first sessions of the day’s play. However, his lack of genuine pace may just make it easier for batsmen to negotiate once the skies have cleared up post lunch.

In contrast to Bhuvneshwar’s ineffectiveness in the afternoon session, Mohammed Shami remains the strike bowler MS Dhoni may rely upon to provide breakthroughs anytime during the innings.

Shami had been only 15 first-class matches old when he was drafted into the side, but the premature debut hardly seemed to dislodge his bearings as he went on to plunder 27 wickets in 6 Tests with best figures of 5/47.

Bowling in the vicinity of 140 kmph, Shami is considered to possess the rare gift of extracting both swing and movement off the pitch. He pursues the line of the fourth stump and moves the ball both ways thereby unsettling the batsman and making him jab unnecessarily.

What sets Shami apart from his contemporaries is his ability to assemble wickets in a bunch. His penchant for bowling tight lines, coupled with his impeccable seam position makes him unplayable for the newcomer at the crease. More than once during the tour of New Zealand, Shami has delivered spells of match-winning proportions.

His menacing spell of 10-1-30-3 in the second innings of the Auckland Test reduced New Zealand to 25 for 5 in startlingly quick time. He settled on a fuller length, but he did not overpitch, making it hard for the batsmen to come forward, thus leaving them in a quandary.

The English summer promises to be dry later on as the spinners come into the foray in the fourth and fifth Test. Evidently, Shami has exploited the old ball beautifully in drier conditions against the West Indies and will, definitely, prove to be an asset in the later half of the series as well.

Statistically speaking, Indian bowlers fare a lot better in the second Test than in the first. The bowling average of 42.50 in the first Test improves to 39.43 in the second (just above 35 if matches after 1986 are taken into account). However, they seem to tire out and run out of steam during the third Test and by the fourth, they are reduced to a pitiable state. With six seamers in the squad this time around, one may expect India to better their average of 51.42 in the fourth Test at Old Trafford.

Ravindra Jadeja is expected to get the nod over R Ashwin for the first Test

The pertinent question that now arises is whether to choose Ravichandran Ashwin as a frontline spinner or go ahead with Ravindra Jadeja as a spinning allrounder. While the former has been lackluster of late both with the ball and the bat, Jadeja has been marginally better.

It is widely known that English pitches hardly offer any assistance to the spinners unless the summer is hot and the Test drags on late into the fourth and fifth days. Playing both Ashwin and Jadeja will, therefore, be a luxury that Dhoni cannot afford. The long tour, however, promises enough opportunities for both, given that no other spinner has taken the flight to England.

Although Jadeja has failed as miserably with the ball as Ashwin, it is his athletic fielding that grants the former a considerable advantage over Ashwin. Memories of Jadeja pouncing on low catches and dismissing the likes of Brendon McCullum with silky dives and accurate throws are not about to be forgotten in a hurry.

That Jadeja, unlike Ashwin, banks on precision and bounce rather than spin is the rationale behind the fact that he manages to restrict the batsmen better and helps in building up pressure even on disobliging tracks. He may have an innocuous presence in the field, but he manages to offer enough for the skipper to have multiple uses for him.

India is most likely to opt for a trio of pacers consisting of Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami while the lone spinner may be a toss between Ashwin and Jadeja. Varun Aaron may hope for a start in the third Test of the series, but Pankaj Singh and Stuart Binny, being short of international exposure, may have to wait till the concluding Test for a debut.

Irrespective of the inexperience in the England squad, the odds remain firmly in the home team’s favor. Unless India manages to figure out a way to scoop up 20 wickets within a decent period of time, the prospects will continue to look as bleak as it did three years earlier.