Indians look to turn a new page in England
Nottingham: Devoid of experience but propped up by a confident bunch of youngsters, India will look to wipe away past scars and reverse their poor overseas record when they take on England in a five-Test series starting here on Wednesday.
It is a great opportunity for a young visiting side as they play five back-to-back Tests in this hectic 42-day series. The next four Tests will be played at London (Lord’s), Southampton, Manchester and London again (The Oval).
Under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s last overseas Test win came against West Indies at Kingston in June 2011. Since then they have gone on to lose 8-0 in two tours to England and Australia.
A new overseas journey began in the 2013-14 season, which saw them play four overseas Tests in South Africa and New Zealand. But they couldn’t get back to winning ways, losing two and drawing two matches.
That, however, isn’t the only fact hurting Indian cricket. Their Test form against England has seen a downward curve in the last two encounters; after the 4-0 embarrassment, they suffered a humiliating 2-1 loss at home in 2012-13.
It was the first series win for England in India since 1984-85, one that marked their ascendancy in modern-day Test cricket.
However, things have changed a lot for the hosts since then. Their current Test squad bears a dissimilar look to the ones that dismantled India with such ease in their last two meetings.
Cricketers who really shone in those encounters are either suffering from poor form or fatigue – Alastair Cook, Stuart Broad, James Anderson – while some – Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott – have vanished from the scene altogether.
The combination of Anderson and Swann (with ample support from Broad, Tim Bresnan and Monty Panesar at different times) proved lethal for India on the two previous occasions.
Whether away or at home, there was no respite for their batsmen as quality pace and swing backed up by some sensational spin bowling wreaked havoc in their ranks.
The duo accounted for 34 out of 79 Indian wickets to fall in the summer of 2011, while their tally went up to 32 out of 55 dismissals in the winter of 2012-13.
Swann’s absence is hurting England because they now have to play an additional seam bowler while off-setting the spin duties to Moeen Ali, a move that hasn’t invoked much confidence.
It means additional burden on their primary medium pacers, Anderson and Broad. But if the recent trend of placid wickets – like the ones at both Lord’s and Headingley in the recent first home series loss to Sri Lanka – continues, the hosts will find that taking 20 wickets will not be an easy proposition.
Bowlers need the cushion of runs to take wickets in Test cricket and Cook’s form is the great worry here. The English captain has now gone 24 innings without crossing the triple-figure mark.
In their last two meetings, Cook buried the Indian bowling under an avalanche of runs – 910 runs in 14 innings. While he searches for runs at the present moment, his captaincy has come under severe criticism from many quarters, a point of possible exploitation for Dhoni and his men.
Pietersen was the other great scorer for England in those two encounters – 533 runs in 2011 and 338 runs in 2012-13 – and that chapter is closed now. With Trott missing, it puts great pressure on Ian Bell to become the second scoring pivot in this upcoming series as the batting line-up is otherwise replete with youngsters trying to fit in.
England are undergoing a massive transition at this moment and five Tests provides ample opportunity for any side looking for a bit of revenge against them. (PTI)