LOOKING TO SETTLE OLD SCORES: Three years ago, the last time India
travelled to England for a test series, it was thrashed 4-0 and in 2012
England won another four-match series 2-1 on Indian soil. Since then, a
5-0 Ashes defeat in Australia followed by the 1-0 series defeat to Sri
Lanka mean England look anything but as imperious. India will smell
blood and look to exploit its hosts' problems. In India's 18-man test
squad, only three players have played test match cricket in England —
Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma and captain MS Dhoni. However, Dhoni will
be confident batsmen such as Virat Kohli, an elegant shotmaker, and
Ajinkya Rahane, who likes to play aggressively, will leave their mark on
England. "As far as our team is concerned, we have prepared really
well," Kohli said. "We have some ideas in mind that we want to execute
when we go onto the field."
NO REVIEW: India remains the only cricketing nation to refuse DRS, which means this test series will remove the safety net for umpires to improve the number of correct decisions. England would have won the first test against Sri Lanka if Nuwan Pradeep had not been able to challenge the lbw dismissal awarded against him off the bowling of Stuart Broad, where replays showed he got a thick inside edge.
ALI AND ASHWIN: Moeen Ali is the closest England have to a spin bowler at the moment, but it seems that Cook needs to see more from him to be truly convinced. He relied almost incessantly on his four-pronged pace attack against Sri Lanka, and Ali would be forgiven for feeling he deserved to have the ball in his hand for more overs than he did. Granted, in both tests he averaged over 60, but he struck at crucial times removing key batsmen such as Kumar Sangakkara for his first test wicket. For India, its spinner Ashwin will be encouraged to see the torment that Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath put England's batsmen through. Ashwin averages around five wickets a test, but 15 of his 19 appearances have been in India. The 27-year-old bowler now has an opportunity to remove any doubts about his ability to spin the ball outside of his home country against an England side under increasing pressure to get back to winning test matches.
SOURCE-http://www.crictoday.com/news/196-sliden
NO REVIEW: India remains the only cricketing nation to refuse DRS, which means this test series will remove the safety net for umpires to improve the number of correct decisions. England would have won the first test against Sri Lanka if Nuwan Pradeep had not been able to challenge the lbw dismissal awarded against him off the bowling of Stuart Broad, where replays showed he got a thick inside edge.
ALI AND ASHWIN: Moeen Ali is the closest England have to a spin bowler at the moment, but it seems that Cook needs to see more from him to be truly convinced. He relied almost incessantly on his four-pronged pace attack against Sri Lanka, and Ali would be forgiven for feeling he deserved to have the ball in his hand for more overs than he did. Granted, in both tests he averaged over 60, but he struck at crucial times removing key batsmen such as Kumar Sangakkara for his first test wicket. For India, its spinner Ashwin will be encouraged to see the torment that Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath put England's batsmen through. Ashwin averages around five wickets a test, but 15 of his 19 appearances have been in India. The 27-year-old bowler now has an opportunity to remove any doubts about his ability to spin the ball outside of his home country against an England side under increasing pressure to get back to winning test matches.
SOURCE-http://www.crictoday.com/news/196-sliden
No comments:
Post a Comment