England vs India 2014: A peek into the future

As India embarks on the “big test” series as everyone is calling it, we look at some of the factors that could well play a decisive role in shaping up its outcome. Naturally, an indomitable hype surrounds every overseas tour of India. That the hype is considerably lesser should work in India’s favour. Irrespective of the team’s recent overseas woes, they might relish the opportunity to turn things around as their opponent is one which is struggling to keep its head out of an abyss.

England’s start to the new era began with a gut wrenching draw at Lord’s where they were denied by a ridiculously dormant pitch and DRS. There was more to come. At Headingley, Alastair Cook’s men put in an insipid and clueless performance against a highly motivated Sri Lankan side. They were comfortably cruising during the first 3 days when a combination of abject captaincy by Cook and a rousing innings by his counterpart Angelo Mathews buried England in a nail-biting thriller.

As a result, England lost their first home test series to Sri Lanka and more importantly setting themselves further back in their rebuilding process. Whether the English captain and his team will be able to overcome the psychological trauma (from last winter) that has crept slowly into their usually robust early summer home record remains a critical question.

MS Dhoni under pressure

They are up against an unpredictable Indian side led by a captain who too has a few questions to answer himself. Even though Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s cup-winning prowess is unquestionable, he has largely remained a tactically inept captain when it comes to overseas Tests. Naturally, his supporters might argue that his bowling attack has been impotent since the retirement of Anil Kumble and the absence of injury-prone Zaheer Khan. But, Dhoni has not been able to get the best out of his bowling attack at various times due to his defensive thinking. He has not seized the crucial moments and thus his team has paid the price for it. He has shown encouraging signs recently hinting at a slight change in his planning. Whether that transpires on to the field come the first Test at Trent Bridge will give us a clue of how the series will proceed.

India have a variety of options to choose from a reasonably large squad. The two practice matches at Leicester and Derby have given an inclination that Dhoni might go in with 5 bowling options with uncapped Stuart Binny strongly in contention for the first match in place of a specialist batsman. Trent Bridge having a history of being a haven for swing bowlers could be ideal for Binny to get in a few overs.

Ishant Sharma despite his notoriously inconsistent nature could have a say in the series as he is the only bowler in the squad to have played red ball cricket in English conditions. Kumar and Shami will have to consistently pitch the ball up and bring the slip cordon into play. Catching has been an Achilles heel for this young Indian team who have not yet found the correct replacements for the legends who had manned the slip cordon for quite some time. The batting lineup is more or less settled and is expected to score big runs as the summer heat takes its toll on the pitches. It is worth to note that no one in this Indian squad has played a five Test series before. Hence, fitness of the players will be paramount to the cause.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad will be key for England

England have added Ben Stokes, the all-rounder to the 12 man squad which played Sri Lanka in June. James Anderson’s record at Trent Bridge is a stuff of legend with 49 wickets from 7 Tests at 17.34. He has moved from a disastrous Ashes performance last winter to a considerably good performance against the Sri Lankans and finished with a Man of the Series award. He will be the key in dismantling the promising Indian batting line-up.

Stuart Broad will look to bolster the pace unit as his new ball partner. The absence of a specialist spinner might hit them hard as they are struggling to recover from Graeme Swann’s retirement last winter. The batting lineup has an uninspiring look to it with problems emanating from the top of the order as Alastair Cook is getting himself out early. Moeen Ali’s rearguard effort at Headingley might have provided some hope. The Indian bowlers have a great chance to capitalize on their shortcomings.

The pitches that will be provided in England for this series have been scrupulously debated by everyone. A couple of years ago, ECB had invested millions of pounds on a new drainage system for the stadiums across the country. This new drainage system along with the hovercrafts has sapped the moisture out of the pitch thereby negating the home advantage of England to a certain extent.

Drier pitches should help India

As the summer goes on, the pitches will be drier and spinners will definitely play a major role in the series. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin will enjoy the conditions more as the series progresses. England too might bring in a specialist spinner for the last couple of Tests. The only thing to make the batsmen weary will be the overhead cloud covers and if it happens, the rain. But, the weather forecast for the next two months is decent which might make the Indians a bit more happier.

It will certainly be a fascinating series to watch with both teams eager to prove a point. Though, India looks a more balanced team on paper, their recent overseas form is a major worry. On the other hand, England hardly looked comfortable against a raw Sri Lankan side. The changing nature of pitches might hasten the search for Graeme Swann’s replacement.

Another aspect to look out for will be the captaincy of both Cook and Dhoni. A failure in this Test series might dent the future for either for them. While Cook has a massive responsibility to shoulder the batting lineup, Dhoni needs to chip in with the bat and make meaningful contributions to the scoreboard.

Duncan Fletcher will be asking his bowlers to destroy the English skipper’s confidence by removing him early. 1971, 1986 and 2007 have seen memorable moments in English soil with the Indian team scripting some glorious chapters in their proud cricketing history. Will 2014 be added to that list? Can Dhoni replicate the success of Ajit Wadekar, Kapil Dev and Rahul Dravid? Only time will tell.