Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara share a light moment in the second Test vs South Africa in 2013.
© AFP
Calling it the Revenge Series, former skipper Sourav Ganguly feels this is India's best chance to win a Test series in England. India haven't won a series in England since 2007 and the last time MS Dhoni's men toured UK in 2011, they were hammered four-nil. (Sachin and Dravid: An Unusual Coincidence)
England are in a bit of doldrums. They just lost a series against Sri Lanka at home and skipper Alastair Cook is under tremendous pressure to step down or take a break. But Ganguly says it will be foolish to write off the England captain, who remains his team's leading batsman with 8125 runs (25 centuries) with a good average of almost 47. Not only Cook, Ganguly identified the dangermen in the England camp
"Cook is too good a player to be written off after a poor series, or two. He will bounce back. They also have Ian Bell, who has always scored big against India. Then there is Joe Root, who is a fine young batsman. Moeen Ali too has been impressive," Ganguly told The Times of India in an interview. (India Aim for Positive Start to England Tour)
Then what gives India the edge? According to Ganguly, England will miss the experience of a Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss and of course, off-spinner Graeme Swann. While Strauss and Swann have retired, Pietersen has been sidelined after the Ashes rout.
"England are clearly no longer the side they were in 2011. They have lost key players like Pietersen, Swann, Strauss and Jonathan Trott. After the unexpected retirement of off-spinner Swann last year, England are yet to find a quality spinner. That is surely an area of concern for Cook. It could have a huge bearing on the upcoming series," said Ganguly.
Ganguly feels the teams are evenly matched but India have the edge because they have the better spinners. "India may be a bit short on experience, but this could a big series for our youngsters to announce their arrival on the big stage. In bowling, too, India have good balance as we have a better spin attack than England," said Ganguly.
The first of the five-Test series starts in Nottingham on July 9.
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