After a disappointing loss to New Zealand in the World Test Championship final, team India gear up for a five-match test series in England. This will be the inaugural series in the 2nd World Test Championship cycle. The five tests will be played at Trent Bridge, Lords, Headingley, The Oval and Old Trafford respectively. The entire series will be played in front of a full capacity crowd.
Pre math:
Since the last time India toured England, Virat Kohli's men have lost only one test series which was away to New Zealand. India bounced back to win the Border-Gavaskar trophy away against Australia followed by a thumping series win against England at home. The blues booked a place in the World Test Championship final ahead of Australia and England in the process but came short in the final against New Zealand.
England on the other hand have had two disappointing series. After winning the away series against Srilanka, Joe Root's team were outclassed by India in a series which was massively overshadowed by heated debates about the quality of pitches. The loss meant that England missed out on a chance to play the World Test Championship final in their backyard. To make matters worse England lost a home series against New Zealand for the first time since 1999.
Squads:
England (first two tests) -
Joe Root (c), Craig Overton, Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Jos Buttler, Mark Wood, Sam Curran, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson.
Ben Stokes was initially named in the squad but was replaced by Craig Overton after the all-rounder took an indefinite break from all forms of cricket to focus on his mental wellbeing and continue his recovery from a finger injury.
England has rarely played their strongest XI in a test match for the past year or so while their white-ball team continued to be full strength. Captain Joe Root said that he hopes to play his strongest possible side against India and put an end to the rest and rotation policy.
India -
Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav
Shubhman Gill and Washington Sundar were in the squad but had to withdraw due to injuries. Pacers Prasidh Krishna and Arzan Nagwaswalla are standby players. Another standby player Avesh Khan was sent back after suffering an injury in a warm-up match.
India have been forced into changes due to injuries, especially in Australia. The injuries have made way for some youngsters to make their mark. Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel have taken the opportunity to put in excellent performances whenever called up.
Whether India repeat what they did in the World Test Championship final by playing both Jadeja and Ashwin is the biggest question mark as far as team selection goes. As for England, the opening pair is something that remains unclear.
Schedule:
1st Test: 4-8 August 2021, Trent Bridge, Nottingham
2nd Test: 12-16 August 2021, Lord’s, London
3rd Test: 25-29 August 2021, Emerald Headingley, Leeds
4th Test: 2-6 September 2021, Kia Oval, London
5th Test: 10-14 September, Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
Prediction:
India's last series win in England came in 2007 under Rahul Dravid's captaincy. Since then India have never come too close to winning in England. Having said that after winning back to back away series against Australia, a win in England looks very achievable. The pacers at Virat Kohli's disposal are some of the best India has ever had. With Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as spin bowling all-rounders, the Indian bowling attack is incredibly well balanced.
England will be keen to bounce back and start the World Test Championship in the best possible way. While Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes are prominent absentees their replacements aren't too bad. Ollie Robinson in particular has shown good potential in his recent test debut against New Zealand.
England without question enter the series as favourites majorly due to home conditions. The major battle throughout the series is going to be between India's middle-order trio of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane and England's pacers. This battle will undoubtedly have a large impact on the end result.
