Kolkata: India must force a win in the opening Test against England after a dominating start since such opportunities won’t come their way everyday, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly said Saturday.
India posted 471 runs in their first innings after being invited to bat with Yashaswi Jaiswal, skipper Shubman Gill and Rishab Pant scoring centuries.
Ganguly felt India were in a prime position to touch 600-run mark after being 359 for three on the opening day.
“Nobody expects Headingley to be so dry. But what will happen is, if they get 600, it starts getting a bit up and down. India must win this. They won’t get this opportunity again,” Ganguly told PTI.
Leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh could not find place in the playing XI.
Ganguly said he would have preferred Arshdeep over Prasidh Krishna.
“Kuldeep will play slowly. It’s a long series. I would have played Arsh. Because of a different angle (for being left-armer). But it’s okay. They’re good,” he said, adding that Ravindra Jadeja will have to bowl well since he usually struggles away from home.
England have a different attack at their disposal, compared to the past when they had the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad in their line-up.
Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue, along with skipper Ben Stokes, formed the core of their first Test bowling line up .
“They bowl too short actually. Halfway through yesterday, they were bowling only short to Shubman Gill. But it’s okay. They’ll learn. It’s just the first Test,” said Ganguly.
Asked if he expects India to win the series 3-1, Ganguly said, “It’s too early to say.”
PTI
