By Nasser Hussain
The T20 at Old Trafford today offers India its best chance of beating England on this tour. England have separate squads for each version of the game, and their T20 captain, Stuart Broad, has still not had enough experience at captaincy at this level. Broad also has seven new faces in his young team. Having won the T20 world cup and having played in the IPL, India’s players may have an edge in terms of experience in this format of the game. On the flip side, experience alone counts for little when a few good or bad deliveries can be the difference between the two sides.
This is a great opportunity for the new players to make their mark at the international level. Amongst the newcomers, Jade Dernback is the one India needs to look out for, especially in the death overs. He is a bit like Lasith Malinga, without the round arm action. He has a lot of variation and can give India’s middle order a hard time.
The one day series would be harder to predict. On the one hand India have just won the world cup and their confidence must be high, despite the loss in the test series. India’s batting line-up with Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni is strong without doubt. Kohli, Sharma, Raina and Dhoni can bat explosively and turn a game at a crucial stage. India’s batsmen must be able to bat their full 50 overs.
England have rested Kevin Pietersen as he has not had much success in this format of the game recently, and they have enough batsmen waiting in the wings. Unlike in India, you don’t need scores of 300 in every game in England. Sometimes even 200 can be a winning score. Batsmen need to apply themselves and not throw their wickets. Having Dravid for the one dayers is a huge plus for India.
It’s early autumn, and the white ball will move about under lights. I would like to see how the Indian batting will tackle the likes of James Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad, and the spin and bounce of Greame Swann, who will all exploit the conditions to the maximum, as they did in the test series.
It remains to be seen which fast bowlers India will play. Amongst the spinners, R Ashvin and Raina will have to play a big role for India. Many of the newcomers in the Indian side have not had any experience in English conditions and therefore England have an advantage overall. England’s one day captain Alastair Cook has a younger, fitter, side and he will be trying to round off the series on a winning note.