Leeds: A new captain, a headstrong coach, a few from the old guard and some fresh faces will be determined to create a compelling narrative during the next 45 days when an in-transition India takes on an equally combustible England in a five-Test series for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy starting here on Friday.
That only three Indian teams — Ajit Wadekar’s batch of 1971, Kapil’s Devils in 1986 and Rahul Dravid’s sprightly bunch in 2007 — have won a Test series in Old Blighty in the past nine decades doesn’t make for a rosy picture.
Neither does the fact that India’s most devoted long-format cricketer of the past decade, Virat Kohli, has walked into Test sunset making the batting line-up look slightly thin on experience.
For the 25-year-old Shubman Gill, this series will be nothing short of baptism by fire against an England side, which has changed the conventions of Test match batting under Brendon McCullum’s coaching and Ben Stokes’ captaincy.
Gill’s selection as India’s 37th Test captain was more about what one could expect of him rather than what he has done as a batter and a leader in the traditional format. The ‘Prince’ does have his plate full and has a lot to prove.
An unusually warm Leeds (maximum temperature on Friday could be 29 degree celsius) and the 8mm grass laden 22-yard surface at the Headingley isn’t exactly a paradise for England’s proverbial ‘Bazballers’ but this series will be about which batting unit blinks first under pressure.
England’s batting with Joe Root, owner of 13,000 plus Test runs including 36 hundreds, looks superior on paper compared to India as the visiting team’s most experienced batter is KL Rahul (58 Tests, 3257 runs).
But the presence of a peerless Jasprit Bumrah in the Indian bowling unit puts the visitors on even keel. This despite the pace spearhead being available for only three Tests.
Despite the absence of Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who played his best Test cricket in the 2021 series, this could be India’s best chance to put pressure on an English bowling line-up that wouldn’t have the quality that James Anderson and Stuart Broad brought for two decades.
An attack comprising Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir with skipper Stokes to complement them doesn’t exactly strike fear in the opposition ranks.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir, easily the most powerful man in the Indian change room after the departure of Kohli and Rohit, wouldn’t want his already blemished record of six defeats to worsen any further. The series would be first real test of tactical acumen for Gambhir.
While Karun Nair’s comeback seems to be a given if one went by slip cordon’s composition during practice, where he was stationed at first slip, there will be one more batting slot that needs to be fretted upon.
Would Gambhir play an extra batter and hand the talented B Sai Sudharsan his maiden Test cap? Or does he play both seam bowling all-rounders in Nitish Reddy and Shardul Thakur to compensate for the lack of an extra specialist batter?
Then there is the lure of playing Kuldeep Yadav, who can turn the ball irrespective of surfaces, but Ravindra Jadeja despite his shortcomings as a left-arm spinner in SENA countries is still a solid No. 7 batter.
Another issue is whether T20 specialist Arshdeep Singh should be given a go as third seamer depending on conditions or should a Prasidh Krishna, who bowls at a quicker clip but slightly back of length, get the nod.
Not to forget Akash Deep, who is widely considered a perfect foil for Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj in these conditions.
The decisions that Gambhir takes will certainly define India’s game philosophy during the next six and half weeks.
The hosts have already announced their eleven and one can see that Stokes and McCullum have opted for a batting heavy eleven where Woakes comes in at No.8.
Woakes does have a Test hundred against India and is a good enough batter.
But it will also depend on how Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett start against Bumrah and Siraj, who can ask more than a few probing questions.
Ollie Pope, who was ‘Bumrahed’ in the last India series, would know that Jacob Bethell is breathing down his neck.
But it is the Root versus Bumrah duel in three of the five games that could basically determine the outcome of the series.
Squads:
England (playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir.
India: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana.
Match Starts: 3:30 pm IST.
