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Ahmedabad: Former India coach and New Zealand cricketer John Wright pointed out on Thursday that the hosts will miss the experience of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in the middle during the upcoming India-England Test series.
Wright also ruled out India’s complete dominance, but insisted that it will be a closely-contested series.
“The Test series will be interesting. England are coming off a home series defeat against South Africa (2-0), while India will miss the experience of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. The middle-order is quite new. The series will be a closely-contested one and it won’t be 4-0 to India,” Wright said.
The former Test cricketer added that the first innings of the match will hold the key to success as the team that will put runs on the board or picks up early wickets will enjoy an upper hand.
He also mentioned that it will be a real test for the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha.
However, Wright said that the two have bowled very well in tandem so far.
The first of the four Tests is to be played here on November 15.
India go into the series against the backdrop of eight consecutive away Test defeats. However, they beat New Zealand 2-0 at home in September.
Averse to the idea of Day-Night Test matches, Wright said the ICC’s move to introduce D/N Tests is an attempt to bring back spectators, but the format should be thoroughly trialled first.
“The idea is good on paper but cricketing realities have to be taken into consideration before it is practically applied,” Wright said, highlighting the difficulties that a cricketer would have to face while playing at night in colder climes such as Wellington.
Regarding Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir’s poor run of form with the bat, the Kiwi said: “They should bide some time at the wicket before going for shots.”
“If they can bat for two hours, the job of the middle-order will be easy,” he insisted. (PTI)
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