*NEW DELHI – India may be the world’s top-ranked Test side but they stillface accusations they are lions at home and lambs abroad.*
But a series win in England, where Virat Kohli’s men begin a five-Testcampaign at Edgbaston on Wednesday, would go some way to ridding India ofthat unwanted tag.
In the past five years, India have won just one of their six Test seriesoutside of Asia, against a struggling West Indies.
Their overall Test record in England is uninspiring — six wins from 57matches and three series victories — 1971, 1986 and 2007.
But if the current prolonged hot weather in England continues, the upcomingseries may well be played on dry and dusty pitches, more akin to thesurfaces that are found in India, rather than traditional green Englishseamers.
Also, while doubts persist about England’s ability to cope should eitherone of veteran new-ball duo Stuart Broad and James Anderson get injured,India do at least have some pace-bowling depth.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah may be unfit for the first Test butthe likes of Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav have shownthemselves to be capable operators outside of Asia.
Anderson is a master of conventional swing, but India may have the edge ifconditions favour reverse-swing during what will be England’s 1,000th Testmatch.
*‘Bowling variety’*
“They seem to have got a good variety of bowlers and strength in depth intheir pace bowling,” said England opener Alastair Cook.
“In the last ten years I’ve played them, they haven’t had the option ofplaying five or six different types of seamers,” added Cook, England’sall-time leading Test run-scorer, whose highest score of 294 was madeagainst India at Edgbaston in 2011.
Meanwhile India captain Kohli, one of the outstanding batsmen of hisgeneration, will be desperate to prove he can score runs in England.
He managed a meagre 134 in five matches during his maiden Test series inEngland in 2014, which India lost 3-1 with one draw.
But Mohammad Azharuddin, the India batting great, believes everything isnow in place for Kohli to have a successful series.
“I think he will perform wonderfully well,” Azharuddin told AFP in Delhi.
“He has led India in so many Test matches, so I don’t think he will haveany pressure now as far as leadership is concerned.”
England captain Joe Root, who like Kohli is at his best when leading fromthe front, comes into the series having converted only three out of 23fifties since his Test-best 254 against Pakistan in 2016 into hundreds — apoor return for a player of his ability.
Batting could hold the key to the series and there are question marksagainst both top-orders.
*‘Quality batsmen’*
England, following a 1-1 drawn series with Pakistan, are sticking withKeaton Jennings in the hope of at last finding a reliable opening partnerfor Cook, while India’s Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara have both beenstruggling for runs.
“We are not worried at all, because both are really quality batsmen,” saidIndia’s Ajinkya Rahane of his top-order colleagues.
“It just takes one good innings to get into your rhythm.”
India would appear to have the edge in spin bowling but off-break bowlerRavichandran Ashwin has rarely performed as well outside of Asia as he hasin the sub-continent.
Left-armer Ravindra Jadeja is an experienced campaigner while left-armwrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has forced his way in after impressing duringthe preceding one-day series.
White-ball form also led England to recall Adil Rashid even though theleg-spinner has not been playing red-ball cricket for Yorkshire this seasonand he could team up with off-spinner Moeen Ali.
“He’s a very good bowler,” said Rahane of Rashid.
“Wrist-spinners, we all know they are wicket-takers — and right now, inEngland weather-wise, it’s like playing in Mumbai or Chennai.” – APP/AFP