England's Tour to India

 

Trial by spin Continued

England's trial by spin continues against the might of India.

After a disappointing series against Bangladesh, England will be looking to set things right against India. This however, will not be easy as India are ranked the number 1 test team in the world. History shows us that England have never been great players of spin, however on England's last tour of India,  Alistair Cook's men proved the critics wrong as the beat Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side 2-1 to claim their first ever series win on Indian soil.

India, under the leadership of new test skipper Virat Kohli are bang in form winning 10 of 17 test under his captaincy. The 28 year old is determined to continue his 7 match winning streak against England on Wednesday at the Surashrastra Cricket Association Ground in Rajkot. 

This will be the first test match ever to be held in Rajkot and both teams will be keen to start of this mouth-watering series on a high. it will also be interesting to see what kind of pitches we get in all 5 tests, I would think that they would produce dry spinning pitches given the fact that England historically have never been great players of spin. Also the fact that England rely on Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson to take most of their wickets is going to take a lot out of them in terms of energy. This is where England will miss Graeme Swan as he had the control as well as the skill to take wickets in all conditions. I think that this is where England may struggle in terms of their spinners being able to keep the runs down at the same time as trying to take wickets. This could mean that the seamers may have to do a lot of bowling during the 5 test matches, which could take a lot out of them in terms of energy. In terms, of India, Kohli will be hoping that his 3 top quality spinners: Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra and the number 1 spinner in the world, Ravichandran Ashwin will be the most likely to put pressure on the English batsmen.

The key batsmen for England on this tour are the Captain Alistair Cook and the no: 4 batsman in the world, Joe Root. Cook's experience on this tour will be important as he is the most experienced batsman in the side and has been a part of England's last three tours of India where he made his debut in Nagpur on the 2006 tour. 

Will England prevail once again on this tour or will India end their 8 year wait for a test series win against England. All will be revealed in the next couple of weeks.