India eye perfect start at Edgbaston as England play 1000th Test

BIRMINGHAM: India would be driven by the desire to shed the poor travellers’ tag, while England would be desperate to arrest the recent slide at home when the two teams clash in a five-match Test series, starting hereon Wednesday.
The English side will be celebrating its 1000th Test at Edgbaston, and it will be up to world No.1 India to spoil the home party. India last won a Test series in England in 2007 under Rahul Dravid, and it will be no easy task ahead of the Virat Kohli-led side to duplicate that feat. Under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India failed in 2011 and 2014, losing by heavy 4-0 and 3-1 margins, respectively. In fact, India have only won six out of the 57 matches on English soil.
England’s Test form coming into this series is also a cause of concern. Since September 2017, England have only won one out of nine Tests against Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan.
They have been beaten twice in their last five home Tests by West Indies and Pakistan, with both sides’ pace attack exploiting the weaknesses in a batting line-up heavily dependent on Root, Jonny Bairstow and seasoned opener Alastair Cook.
The visitors, meanwhile, will be buoyed by the fact that three out of their six wins here have come since 2002. India’s assistant coach Sanjay Bangar was part of the Test squad as Sourav Ganguly’s team won at Leeds. Wicket keeper Dinesh Karthik was part of the 2007 series-winning squad. Skipper Virat Kohli and Ishant Sharma toured here in 2011 and 2014 and seven other players in the current side have also featured during that last trip. But India’s record at Edgbaston is exceptionally poor with five losses in six Tests here stretching back to 1967.
The visitors must pick an optimal playing eleven and avoid the mistakes made on their previous overseas trip to South Africa. There, the team management had backed an in-form Rohit Sharma over Ajinkya Rahane. This time around, an in-form KL Rahul is bidding for a spot. Both Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri have maintained that as third-choice opener, Rahul must wait for his chance. But the fit-again batsman’s fine form might just compel them. Rahul scored a fluent 58 in the first innings against Essex followed by a second innings 36 not out. (PTI)