Chennai: There will be plenty of nervous eyes watching the four-Test series between India and England on Friday (February 5), with three teams’ World Test Championship fates hanging in the balance.
Both India and England go into this series with plenty of reason to be confident. It has been nearly four years since India last lost a Test match at home and more than eight since they lost a series they hosted. That series loss, coincidentally, was against England in late 2012 with a 21-year-old Joe Root making his Test debut.
Rahane wary of “strong” @englandcricket side ahead of the first test in Chennai.
The @BCCI vice-captain says India will play to their strengths as captain Kohli and other key players return.#INDvENG | #WTC21 https://t.co/nRFAorwNNE
— ICC (@ICC) February 3, 2021
Since then, India have conquered any challenger that has toured, winning an incredible 28 of the 34 matches they have played at home in that time, suffering the lone defeat against Australia. No other hosts have been nearly as dominant in this period, though Pakistan have won three of their four Tests in Pakistan since then.
If that dominant home record was not already enough reason for India to be high on morale, they enter this campaign after one of the most remarkable series wins by any team anywhere in any era.
Knocked over for 36 at Adelaide Oval before losing Virat Kohli (paternity leave), Mohammed Shami (forearm), Umesh Yadav (calf), KL Rahul (wrist), Ravindra Jadeja (thumb), Hanuma Vihari (hamstring), Ravichandran Ashwin (back) and Jasprit Bumrah (abdominal) over the course of the series, India somehow, someway still defeated Australia 2-1.
Kohli, Ashwin, Bumrah and Rahul are all back in the squad for this campaign. So are Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya, who were not fit enough for the Test series in Australia.
Nevertheless, England go into the series with every reason to be optimistic after beating Sri Lanka 2-0. They have won each of their past five Tests in Asia – all against Sri Lanka – and are yet to taste defeat on the continent under Root’s captaincy.
As @root66 goes from strength to strength, former @englandcricket players are in awe talking about this future legend.#INDvENG | #WTC21 pic.twitter.com/QzIU7NNFGz
— ICC (@ICC) February 3, 2021
Encouragingly for England, while Root has been at the heart of that run, there have been contributions across the board. Left-arm finger-spinner Jack Leach has 28 wickets at 26.42 in that time in Asia, while Dom Bess impressed in the recent 2-0 win over Sri Lanka, taking 12 at 21.25.
In a serious boon for England, James Anderson took 6/40 in his lone Test in Sri Lanka last month. Anderson played a key role when England won in India in 2012, playing the foil to their spinners with the best series haul of any quick (12 at 30.25). On paper, England look as good a chance as any team since 2012 to beat India in India.
Fixtures
- First Test: February 5 to February 9, 9:30am at Chidambaram, Chennai
- Second Test: February 13 to February 17, 9:30am at Chidambaram, Chennai
- Third Test: February 24 to February 28, 2:30pm at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad
- Fourth Test: March 4 to March 8, 9:30am at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad
Virat Kohli returning to action after paternity leave, the Indian captain will be out to leave his mark on this series.Since becoming captain, Kohli has averaged 77.11 in India and England do not have happy memories against him. The dashing right-hander has notched four hundreds across his past two series against England, including a double-century last time they toured India.
30-year-old Joe Root, will play his 100th Test this week and is on form to make it a memorable one. The England skipper averaged 106.50 in the Sri Lanka series and has typically enjoyed himself in Asia, where he averages 54.13. Remarkably, after the series opener, Root will have played his first, 50th and 100th Tests all in India.
Squads (First two Tests)
India: Virat Kohli (c), Mayan Agarwal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav.
England: Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.
