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 here 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 MS 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. 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.
In bowling, with R Ashwin and Ishant Sharma also having county experience, the general feeling is that this Indian squad is better prepared to face the English challenge this time around.
England continue to prepare for the eventuality of Kuldeep playing in the first Test. Unlike in the ODIs, their current top order – barring Joe Root – hasn’t faced the left-arm spinner and they are wary of the surprise factor.
It remains to be seen if Adil Rashid, whose selection has sparked massive debate, will make the cut ahead of Moeen Ali, who picked up 19 wickets against India in 2014.
- The Edgbaston game will be England’s 1000th Test, first team to achieve the feat
- India last won a Test series in England in 2007 under Rahul Dravid, 1-0 (3 Tests)
- Next two series in 2011 and 2014, India suffered heavy losses – in 4-0 and 3-1 margins respectively, both under MS Dhoni
- India have only won six out of the 57 matches on English soil and at Edgbaston, India have lost five of their six matches
- England, since September 2017, have only won one out of nine Tests against Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan
Slow ticket sales
Birmingham: County chief executives have blamed the cramped schedule of India-England series for sluggish ticket sales that could see up to 10,000 empty seats on the first two days of the Edgbaston Test. The first match starts Wednesday while the third at Trent Bridge begins Saturday and the fifth at the Oval on a Friday. Counties prefer the regular Thursday start. “We have been impacted by the Wednesday start and this series will throw up the whole debate about regularity of scheduling,” Neil Snowball, the chief executive, said. “Overall we will do around 70,000 tickets altogether. It is just days one and two that sales are not what we would normally expect,” he added.
