No one really gave England a chance to win a game in India even though they won a remarkable Test series in Sri Lanka just before 2 weeks. But in the first game of the series on a batting-friendly wicket they out-performed India, which is rare. Let’s put that rarity in numbers from 2013 Virat and his men have lost only 2 games in a 35 home test.
India vs England Third test details
Date – 24 February 2021
Venue – Motera Stadium , Ahmedabad
Time – 14:30 IST
The last team was Australia who won a game in India, but still lost a series by 2-1. And in the second game of the series team India showed why there is no team in the world as dominant as they are at home. Not only did they beat England convincingly, but they showed the real gulf between them in these conditions. But if you had presented the option to Joe Root to play a day-night Test at Motera Stadium with a series of 1-1, he would have taken it with both hands.
With Motera expected to provide assistance to the pacer, especially under lights, England’s chances of putting a fightback on the show have increased dramatically.
Here are a few things that would probably help English men get a lead in the series.
1) Not so much spin – India just played one pink ball game in home conditions so there is a small sample size to go by but still the spinners numbers from that game are -in the whole match the Indian spinner bowled only 7 overs without any wicket and Taijul Eslam took 1 wicket for the visitors after bowling 25 overs. If we go by that theory England will be a much happier side and that would open the door for their competency in the game.
2) Assist for the pacers – In the form of Anderson, Archer, Stone, Broad, Woakes, Wood England have the firepower to match India’s Bumrah, Shami, Ishant and Siraj. Let’s be honest here Bumrah, Shami and Ishant are world class, but the experience of Anderson and Broad still gives England a bit of an advantage.
3) The theory of Indians to play with only 5 batsmen can backfire, especially when the ball dominates a game. With a high class of Indian batting there comes fragility and a bit of inconsistency.
England need to prove that their win in first test wasn’t a fluke, not in this little golden and sweet period of Test cricket where India, with a hugely depleted side, won a series down Australia, where West Indies, the team always criticized for their inborn T20 attitude, chased down 395 in Bangladesh. Can this English team write their own magical moment of drawing a series in India (this is as good as winning a series). If they don’t get bogged down by the way team India hammered them in the last game they certainly can.
********** The above article was contributed by Sanket Sugaonkar ***********
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