England’s ultra-aggressive style of cricket in Tests will be put to a serious test when a formidable India take on the visitors in the first Test
Published Date – 24 January 2024, 08:15 PM
Tema India Coach Rahul Dravid interacting with India Captain Rohit Sharma. (Photo: Anand Dharmana)
Hyderabad: England’s ultra-aggressive style of cricket in Tests will be put to a serious test when a formidable India take on the visitors in the first Test, beginning from Thursday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.
The new brand of fearlessness and counter-attacking cricket – the Bazball – has yielded good results for the Ben Stokes’ side in the recent past and has become the focal point of Test cricket. But they will face a tough challenge in sub-continental conditions where they will be up against rank turners, posing serious threat to their approach.
In addition, India have been near-invincible in home conditions. They haven’t lost a series since 2012 at home, notching up 16 series wins including seven series-sweeps, showcasing their dominance at home. Incidentally, it was the touring England team that won a series against India way back in 2012.
India are once again set to dominate with a strong all-round squad. Though they will be missing Virat Kohli, who chose to skip the first two Tests owing to personal reasons, India have enough talent to replace the talismanic batter. The crowd in Hyderabad, which is hosting a Test match after a gap of five years, will surely miss the superstar of Indian cricket.
In Shreyas Iyer, they have an able cricketer who can replace Kohli at number 4 while Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubamn Gill at No.3 gives a solid look to the Indian top order. With KL Rahul, wicketkeeper KS Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin to follow, the English bowlers have a tough job at hand.
However, the strength of India lies in their spin department. With Ashwin and Jadeja set to figure in the playing XI, the third-spinner spot will be a toss-up between Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav.
“It is a good headache to have quality spinners. Axar, with his all-round performance and good show, provides a great option. On the other hand, Kuldeep has evolved as a bowler and his variety on these kinds of pitches present a case for himself,” said Rohit Sharma on the eve of the match.
Meanwhile, anticipating a rank turner, England have announced their playing XI omitting their veteran pacer James Anderson. With Mark Wood as their only pacer, the Three Lions have named three spinners – Jack Leach, Rehan Ahmed and debutant Tom Hartley. Barring Leach and Anderson, none of them have any experience of playing in Indian conditions. While their inexperienced bowling attack is a worrying factor for the visitors, their fortunes will cling to the performances of their key batters Joe Root, Stokes.
The last Test in Hyderabad between India and West Indies in 2018 lasted only three days and cricket fans craving for Test cricket will have a treat on offer with both quality sides in action. But will it be just another short affair or will go till the last day will depend on the pitch that is on offer.
