India vs England Day 1 LIVE: ENG 215/8; England skipper Ben Stokes continues to stand strong even as wickets tumble at an alarming rate at the other end.
IND vs ENG Day 1 LIVE: England captain Ben Stokes bats on the opening day of the first Test against India in Hyderabad. Sportzpics
India vs England Day 1 LIVE: England’s Bazball style of playing is set to face its toughest Test as they take on India in a five-match Test series, starting from 25 January at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. India are a giant at home, having won the last 16 Test series. In fact their last Test series defeat at home came in 2012, but it as against England and that should give the visitors some comfort. The 2012 England, however, had star players like Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen who could play spin well and spinner like Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar who pun a web around Indian batters.
This time England are largely going to rely on Joe Root who appears to be the only batter in the lineup who has the wherewithal to fight out the Indian attack which will comprise of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. England have also opted for a strange bowling combinations where Mark Wood is the only pacer while they have gone with four spinners. Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach and Root are the four spinners. While Hartley is set for debut, Ahmed has only played a handful of Tests. Leach is the only experienced spinner.
With such an undercooked bowling, at least on the paper, it can prove to be a tough game for England in the first Test. India, on the other hand, are without Virat Kohli who pulled out of the first two Tests due to personal reasons. The batter has been replaced by Rajat Patidar in the squad and it will be interesting to see if he plays. KL Rahul will not keep wickets, this has been confirmed by coach Rahul Dravid, so KS Bharat or Dhruv Jurel can come in which means Patidar may not get a chance. Yashashvi Jaiswal is expected to open with Rohit Sharma, while Shubman Gill will bat at No. 3.
Shreyas Iyer at 4, KL Rahul at 5 and KS Bharat/Dhruv Jurel at 6 could be the possible combination followed by two spin-bowling allrounders in Ashwin and Jadeja, which leaves space for three specialist bowlers. Patidar can play if India decided to bring in an extra batter and only pick two specialist bowler besides Ashwin and Jadeja.
India have a proud record at home in Tests and the series will be about protecting the domination. England look weak in their spin department and with batters who can play spin, but their bold approach to the game in the Bazball era could helped them make up for it. IN such a case the hosts need to be wary of the threat and make sure that they are on the top of the game through out.
India vs England LIVE Streaming: The India vs England first Test will be shown live on Sports18 Network’s TV channels and JioCinema app and website.
