Spin Test is inevitable, but England’s greatest challenge should be facing the Indian juggernaut

Prior to the commencement of each India training session, Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid traditionally stroll to the center of the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium to inspect the field. Before proceeding to the fielding exercises, they had a quick discussion about what they had seen. Dravid gave the pitch one more glance before calling the curator in for further talks at the conclusion of India’s session.

“This pitch seems like a good one.” based on what I’ve seen so far. Dravid would then remark at the press conference, “I’m not sure how quickly and how fast [it will spin], but expected to spin a little bit certainly as the game goes on.”

The pitch was the center of attention for everyone during the lead-up to the Australia series in 2023—at least for the visiting media—and it remains so this time around. Nonetheless, the prevailing attitude seems to be that traveling to India these days is most likely going to include spinning tracks—you might even call them furious turners. Is India using the benefit of being home? Indeed, they most certainly are. Is it an unfair advantage, though? Absolutely not!

Though an all-and-out spinner might backfire for India, as former England cricketer Nasser Hussain pointed out, a little spinning surface is beneficial. We saw it during the Australia series. Australia adjusted to Indore after experiencing the shock of Nagpur and Delhi. The Australians were psychologically impacted by the notion of demons on the field before to the first game of the series, but it was the creatures that bowled on the field that ultimately brought them to their knees.

However, England has avoided stepping into the trap so far. They do, nonetheless, have “Bazball” as a backup plan.

To put it simply, it’s batting aggressively to put pressure on the opposition. However, this will be the first time the Poms are traveling India for a Test series, and if there is any country that can put the test “Bazball,” it’s India. The McCullum-Stokes Bazball era began in 2022.

Mark Wood provided some insight into how England’s approach to the series differs differently from Australia’s, even though he may be the sole pacer included in the England XI come January 25.

During yesterday’s news conference, Wood said, “It’s not good coming here and just rolling over and thinking the pitch will do all the work, or thinking ‘It’s going to be tough’ because the pitches are not what we’re used to.” “We will try to find a way in the games, and we will adapt.” Our skipper never wants to sit back; he constantly wants to move the game forward.

In the first two Test matches, Australia adopted a conservative strategy and were soon behind the eight-ball. By their own admission, or declaration, England will not be timid; nevertheless, it may backfire.

Given India’s impressive home run of 16 series victories going back to 2013, the outcome of this series is certain for the time being.

But in 2012, England became the last foreign side to win a series in India, thanks to a remarkable 2-1 series victory in which Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar outbowled the Indian spinners while Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen outbatted India.

During the series, Harbhajan Singh was nearing the end of his career as an international cricket player, while Pragyan Ojha was India’s top spinner. Piyush Chawla played his last three Test matches before making his debut as Ravindra Jadeja in the Nagpur Test. It was just the first year of Ravichandran Ashwin’s Test career.

By 2023, Jadeja and Ashwin had established themselves as formidable players. Together, the two have taken 765 wickets in only 163 games.

Conversely, Jack Leach, England’s top spinner, hasn’t participated in a major cricket match in around seven months. Rehan Ahmed is just one Test old, while Tom Hartley, a left-arm spinner who averages 36.57 in only 20 First-Class games, is most likely to get his maiden cap in Hyderabad during the first Test.

However, here is where England has its chance. Nathan Lyon, Ashton Agar, Todd Murphy, and Mitchell Swepson were the four spinners that Australia took with them. After Agar and Swepson were removed from the game, Matthew Kuhnemann was inserted.

Given that India has a history of making debuts unforgettable, Indian hitters did struggle to deal with the unfamiliar material. Ask Todd Murphy, Josh Hazlewood, Brett Lee, Lungi Ngidi, Jason Krejza, Lance Klusener, and Josh Hazlewood, who all scored seven runs in their debuts.

Did you know that 14 bowlers have claimed five wickets in their Test debut matches against India?

This is not to imply that Hartley and Rehan will be a pain in the Indian side; rather, the single weak point, if you will, in this Indian unit is arguably the newcomers’ propensity to bring everything down. If the Indians were left without their middle-order rock, Virat Kohli, they may be vulnerable, but in these circumstances, Leach is not Lyon, and James Anderson is not a very good bowler either.

But in 2018, when Hyderabad played home to a Test match, Umesh Yadav’s speed and reverse swing caused the Windies to collapse in three days. In the early going, the black dirt track may surprise a few people with its bounce, and Wood, should he end up being the only pacemaker in the ENG lineup, may also surprise them.

There is little doubt that England will not wait around, and David is aware of this. “Both sides are going to throw a lot of punches, so I hope we can get off to a fast start and maybe land a few early blows.”