India v England Preview

Yet another fascinating test series is set to take place in India later this week as England begin their tour against India this Thursday. This test series will end what has been a tough year of cricket for both teams, but especially England. They enter this tour having not won in India in nearly thirty years and on the back of four tests without victory. England, this being their first test series since being knocked off the top of the rankings by South Africa earlier this year, start their arduous journey back to top and there cannot be a more difficult challenge than to overturn than India in their own backyard. So why is playing in India such a challenge for England?
Let me assure you, it is not just playing in India, it is playing in Asia that is difficult for England. Firstly, England have serious difficulty when playing against spin bowling. Earlier, this year they faced Pakistan (in the UAE) in their first of three Asian tours in 2012. England were comprehensively beaten and out of the 60 English wickets that fell, 47 of them were to spin bowling. A couple of months later, England face Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, and although they improved slightly, they lost 32 wickets and 29 of them were to spinners, with Rangana Herath taking a five wicket haul on three occasions and picking up 19 of the wickets. Not only that, England were bowled for 80, by India, in the World T20 (in Sri Lanka) earlier in October and spin took six of the ten wickets. Problem maybe?

Secondly, the conditions in Asia are nowhere similar to those of England. In India, England will be presented with dry, dusty pitches that favor the likes of Ashwin & Harbhajan. The dusty pitches work as a disadvantage to England not only because the India spinners are more effective, but swing bowling will also not be as effective. In recent years, particularly at home, England's success has been built over a tremendous bowling unit that are mighty effective when the ball is swinging. So does this mean advantage India?
Not necessarily as India's recent form is patchy. Out of India's last four test series they have won two of them (both against West Indies) and lost the other two (both 4-0 whitewashes against England & Australia). In addition to the inconsistency, India have played far less test cricket than England. 
In 2012 alone, England have played eleven test matches, with five of them being in Asia, whereas India have only played five tests this year.

Squads


India* - Likely Line Up

Harbhajan will be looking for a place into the side following his call up

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Virat Kholi
6. Yuvraj Singh
7. MS Dhoni (c)
8. Ravi Ashwin
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Pragyan Ohja
11. Umesh Yadav

Others In Squad:
Ajinkya Rahane
Ishant Sharma
Harbhajan Singh
Murali Vijay

*Squad includes players for first & second tests only. Squads for third & fourth tests not yet submitted. 

England - Likely Line Up
1. Alistair Cook (c) 
2. Nick Compton

England will look to tackle their woes against spin

3. Jonathan Trott
4. Kevin Pietersen
5. Ian Bell
6. Samit Patel
7. Matt Prior
8. Stuart Broad
9. Graeme Swann
10. James Anderson 
11. Steven Finn

Others on Tour:
Jonathan Bairstow
Stuart Meaker
Eoin Morgan
Monty Panesar
Joe Root

Yuvraj makes his return after battling with cancer

India have their squad packed full of spinners with three main spinners and two part-time spinners. It is very much a "welcome-back" feel for India as there is a recall for Harbhajan Singh after he impressed in the World T20 and there is a recall for Yuvraj Singh, who is back after his fight against cancer. Suresh Raina has been dropped after poor performances with that bat, but the main man in India at the moment is no doubt Virat Kholi. The young batsmen continues to impress match by match, especially in the shorter form of the game and is my pick for the best batsmen in the world across all three forms at the moment. However, every team has their weakness and India's is their pace attack. Their seamers posed very little threat last time these teams met. Umesh Yadav is still very young and learning the game and Zaheer Khan does not look the bowler he used to be . There will also be question marks about Khan's fitness.

Compton is among the inexperience in the squad

There is not so much as a "welcome-back" feel, but a "welcome" feel for England as they have called up three uncapped players including Nick Compton, who looks to be the replacement for Andrew Strauss, Joe Root and Stuart Meaker. To add to the inexperience, Jonathan Bairstow, who has played four tests, makes the squad but has already impressed against South Africa with two fifties. Eoin Morgan is also recalled as he was dropped after a dismal time in the UAE and Monty Panesar rejoins the tour party. Samit Patel makes a return after impressing against Sri Lanka in April and in the World T20. Batting will be the main concern and their woes against spin will once again be put to the test. England have only managed to score 300+ twice in their last eight innings in Asia. You do indeed need to take twenty wickets to win a test match, but you also need to post runs on the board to back up the bowlers, which is something England have not done this year whilst on their tours abroad.   


Schedule

1st Test
15 November - 19 November (Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad)

2nd Test
23 November - 27 November (Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai)

3rd Test
5 December - 9 December (Eden Gardens, Kolkata)

4th Test
13 December - 17 December (Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur)


The test series beings soon and it really looks to be a thrilling encounter. Last time these two sides met, England ran away comprehensive winners winning the four match series 4-0. I am undecided on who will walk out winners in this series, but I reckon the favorites are India. England are a very much new-look side following their loss of their #1 ranking, the resignation and retirement of their former captain and the fact that there are three uncapped players in the squad. However, the captaincy situation is not all bad as Alistair Cook is very experienced and was vice-captain under Strauss for at least a year. Cook's captaincy of the ODI side can only help his situation and the fact that the bowlers are all the same eases Cook's decision when captaining. If England are to be successful, all batsmen must contribute with runs and it cannot be about one player scoring runs throughout. Kevin Pietersen will be a key player for England and having already scored a century in a warm up game, he has to deliver, especially with the shenanigans surrounding him earlier this summer. England have a good chance of doing well and are very capable of beating India, but I think this is India's series to lose. 

Cook will lead the test team for the first time