England captain Ben Stokes is set to lead his side to face India in a five-match test series. The games will take place in three weeks with the first test scheduled in Hyderabad on the 25th of January.
England returned to the country after their disastrous tour in 2021 where they lost the Test Match series 4-1 to a strong Indian batting and bowling line-up as England despite winning the first game of the tour were completely dominated in the remainder of the games.
Ben Stokes who has since taken over from Joe Root has transformed the side completely with players adapting an attacking style of approach to the game as opposed to the traditional way of the longer format of the game, where batsmen traditionally defend for long periods and punish the loose deliveries wherever they can.
What Can England Expect?
Embed from Getty ImagesNo touring side has beaten India in their backyard since England beat India in the 2012/13 series. Since then every side which has toured the country has lost comfortably and it’s clear to see why India are heavy favourite ahead of their meeting with England.
The pitches and conditions are a spinner’s dream with the ball turning significantly and England batters will have to be careful when advancing and taking on world-class spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel. This is also the reason why England has included several spinners in their squad with debutants Shoaib Bashir and Lancashire’s Tom Hartley making the touring side squad alongside the experienced Jack Leach and nineteen-year-old Rehan Ahmed.
Facing India in their stadiums is also a challenge with Indian fans setting a hostile atmosphere for opposition sides. This cricket-mad country is quick to criticise its players when standards drop and if India is on top England can expect to be in a cauldron.
How Will England Line Up?
Embed from Getty ImagesEngland will most likely name a settled starting team with Kent’s Zak Crawley and Nottingham’s Ben Duckett opening the batting with the pair averaging 45 runs as an opening partnership, with their attacking intent putting the bowlers under early pressure. Number three is reserved for the talented Ollie Pope with the Surrey man being seen as England’s long-term solution to that troubled number three spot where many predecessors have come and gone in a short space of time.
The middle order is set to include England’s best batter Joe Root at four, young prodigy Harry Brook at five, captain Ben Stokes at six, and Jonny Bairstow at seven to complete the batting order. While Root was England’s highest run scorer in the 2021 series, he is similarly expected to play a significant role with both bat and bowl as his tidy off-spin skills helped him get his maiden five-wicket haul in test cricket.
Embed from Getty ImagesEngland’s bowling attack is set to consist of James Anderson, Leach, Ollie Robinson, and Rehan Ahmed. Anderson and Robinson both impressed in the 2021 series with the pair bowling good length deliveries and allowing the spinners to tie down one end. Leach finished as England’s highest wicket-taker in his previous visit to India with eighteen wickets and Rehan Ahmed is seen as a viable all-rounder who has brilliant variations and leg-breaks, also a batting of 31.95 makes him a handy lower-order batsman for England.
England fans should be aware though as the tourists are set to rest and rotate their bowlers to manage their workload in a humid and scorching Indian atmosphere.
How Will Ben Stokes Fitness Fair in India?
England’s talisman and Captain Ben Stokes has long been plagued by a reoccurring knee injury which has limited his ability to bowl and perform as an all-rounder for the past eighteen months. The Durham man has since undergone knee surgery following England’s disastrous World Cup campaign in India and is facing a tight turnaround to get himself fit for the Test Series in India.
Embed from Getty ImagesEngland’s captain is desperate to play in India and is expected to play most of the games with the England Cricket Board looking to monitor his workload following his surgery. The all-rounder is hoping to bowl again in this summer’s games for Durham and England but the test series in India is a step too far at the moment for Ben Stokes to put his bowling boots back on.
Spin Problems
England’s inability to navigate and play the spin of Ashwin and Patel in 2021 led to the pair claiming 59 wickets between them across all five games. As England’s attack wilted by the sheer brilliance and accuracy of the Indian spinners, it became clear England just couldn’t play spin in adverse and extreme conditions.
Since Stokes took over the captaincy in April 2022, he has since adopted an attacking approach to spin with England’s batting order smashing them to all parts of the ground. It will be likely that England choose to attack the pairs bowling and attempt to smash the spinners out of the attack to give themselves a confidence booster and entertain the crowd.
Image Credit: Deposit Photos
Ben Stokes is the man to do it
Interesting article.