The upcoming Test series between England and India will be a contest between two teams in transition. The recent retirements in the visitors’ camp are well documented, but Ben Stokes and his charges will be fielding a largely unheralded side, especially on the bowling side.
That’s what makes the five Tests, beginning with the game in Leeds on June 20, an intriguing prospect – a batting line-up short on experience against an attack missing some of its biggest names. James Anderson’s name will be on the trophy at stake over the English summer, not in the hosts’ line-up. Stuart Broad will not be there either while Jofra Archer will be missing at least the first Test.
When the decision-makers in Indian cricket chose Shubman Gill as Rohit Sharma’s successor, they would have had the option of Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul or promoting incumbent vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah. But the pace spearhead needs to have his workload managed and can’t play every game, and the others haven’t made heads turn with their captaincy in the opportunities they have got. Most of the regular India stars hardly play any domestic cricket but with nine of the 10 IPL teams led by Indians, there should have been more options.
Gill’s ascension is a decision made more on hope than past record, and the selectors would like to see him grow into the job. But as of now, it may be head coach Gautam Gambhir calling the shots to a large extent, with the team bereft of a lot of star power. It remains to be seen how well this coach-captain combination works, but it will only be fair that Gill is given some time to learn the ropes.
The upcoming few weeks are quite crucial for England as well. Any series between the Big Three – India, England, Australia – is a marquee event with a full five-Test treatment. If results are the sole yardstick, the Bazballers’ bark is more potent than the bite. It’s been three years since Brendon McCullum became their Test coach, and hype and a positive narrative seem to be driving the engine.
The start to McCullum’s stint was promising enough – though anything would have been an improvement over a record of one win in 17 Tests – but as he had taken over in the middle of a World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, they never challenged for a spot in the final.
Underwhelming
But even in the 2023-25 cycle, England have, more often than not, flattered to deceive. They won three of the six series played – two home and one in New Zealand – and were often docked points for slow over rates. They lost a Test to Sri Lanka at The Oval, and failed to win the Ashes on home soil.
Moreover, their batsmen were found wanting whenever pitches were anything other than batting beauties. They dominated Pakistan in the first Test at Multan last October with Harry Brook scoring a triple century, but when the subsequent surfaces were tailored for the home spinners, England’s mantra of ‘see ball, hit ball’ was found to be wholly inadequate. Years of treating spin as an afterthought in domestic cricket has meant that it will take time for them to develop pedigree in that department. Now with their legendary pacers retired and a lot of the current lot struggling with injury, their bowling attack is sporting an uncertain look.
On the batting front, Joe Root is among the greatest Test batsmen of the current era, but most of the others in the line-up seem to go to the middle for a good time, and not necessarily a long time. They make hay when the pitch is flat, but struggle big time when there is something in it for the bowlers. Brook, Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope are known more for flamboyance than the number of runs they score. In such a scenario, skipper Stokes – who has had knee problems of late – may have to shoulder a great deal of burden, both with bat and ball.
Among the Indians, the skipper has also historically found it difficult to handle deliveries moving into him, while Yashasvi Jaiswal – who has had quite an initiation to Test cricket – has failed to find his feet in the couple of tour matches against local sides.
Rahul looks a million dollars when on song, but his Test average of just over 33 is one of the mysteries of contemporary cricket. His cause hasn’t been helped by being shunted up and down the batting order, as per requirement. With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma no longer around, Rahul will need to take on a more senior role.
Sai Sudharsan and Abhimanyu Easwaran will hope to take advantage of the vacant slots and make their Test debuts, while Pant may no longer afford to carry on in his happy-go-lucky approach evident in Australia. Comeback man Karun Nair will hope to maintain his rich vein of form, while Nitish Kumar Reddy will like to show that his exploits in Australia were signs of genuine Test-match class.
Other concerns
But even if the batting side of things functions smoothly, winning a Test invariably requires taking 20 wickets. Here too, India are not without problems. There’s a Ravichandran Ashwin-sized hole in the side. The champion off-spinner had the ability to rise above the conditions and hence, could be expected to provide a wicket-taking threat even on pitches not considered friendly to tweakers. In his absence, left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav will have to don that role.
Poor fitness has prevented Mohammed Shami from making the trip to England and with Bumrah certain not to play all five Tests, the support cast of Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Shardul Thakur and Akash Deep will have to do the hard yards, not just in keeping an end tight, but also contributing to the wickets column.
The start of a new WTC cycle is a stage for all teams to take fresh guard. After two consecutive disappointments in the final, India couldn’t even make it that far this time. And England has never really been in contention in any of the three cycles. These are two teams that play more Tests than most so, in theory, their players should be more attuned to the rhythms of the longest form.
However, it doesn’t always work in practice, as the exploits of New Zealand and South Africa have shown.