The second leg of India’s long home season is set to commence in a couple of days with England coming down to feature in a five-match Test series, starting Wednesday at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.
India are coming into the contest on a high, having beaten New Zealand 3-0 at home in mid-October and then won the ODI series as well while England are coming on the back of a loss to Bangladesh in Mirpur.
The visitors have many Indian stars to take care of in their long home trip and it will be a stern test for them, no doubt. Speaking ahead of the game, England coach Trevor Bayliss said complimented the Indian players and gave a diplomatic answer when queried about who among Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin was going to serve a bigger threat for them.
“If Kohli is bowling, that would be different.They are both very good players. If we concentrate on just two of their players, that will probably be the wrong way to go. They have got more than two very good players. We have got to concentrate on how we approach and how we go about our cricket.
“That has been our best approach over the last couple years. We worry about what we are doing but obviously there are a number of good players in the Indian team that we have got to look at and make sure we bat and bowl well against all of those players. We are here to play cricket and we are here to win cricket matches. Any competitive, young blooded male or person playing in a Test want to win and that takes over everything, “ he said.
What will be a huge sigh of relief for Bayliss and co. is that James Anderson’s injury has healed faster than most thought and he is expected to play in the second Test in Vizag starting on the 17th of November.
“To get anyone back with that experience and the amount of wickets will be good for everyone in the squad. Him being able to talk to younger bowlers about his experiences and how to bowl in these conditions will be of immense help,”the former Kolkata Knight Riders coach said.
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