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Ahead of the first India-England Test in Nottingham, which starts today, the Indian fast bowlers are putting in the hard yards with the bat. In recent times, the Indian pace bowling contingent has been a force to be reckoned with. But their insipid batting displays have left the team desperately short of lower-order runs, an area that has come to bite India in crunch games.
Ahead of the first India-England Test, Ajinkya Rahane insisted that the visitors are looking to cover all bases and be at their best. It needs to be mentioned here that during India's last tour of England, the Asian giants kept skittling out the hosts' top order before the likes of Sam Curran and Chris Woakes added valuable runs lower down the order.
On that note, we discuss the five talking points ahead of the first India-England Test.
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#5 Opening combination for India
Against the seam and swing bowling of England, the Indian opening combination will be under intense scrutiny. The ball moves around in England and as such, the Indian openers will need to see off the new ball to set up a good platform for the middle order. Rohit Sharma showed glimpses of good temperament in the World Test Championship (WTC) final and will now need to cash in and score big runs in the series.
The Dukes ball generally starts swinging after the first 10 overs when the lacquer comes off and this is when the real challenge will start for the Indian openers. How they deal with the threat will go a long way in determining the course of the match and the series.
#4 Lower order runs for India
Out of the six fast bowlers in the Indian squad, only Shardul Thakur (16.58) and Umesh Yadav (14.38) average over 10 in first-class cricket and this leaves the Indian tail extremely vulnerable. They tend to be blown away without showing any fight and time and again this has been a big stumbling block for the Indian side.
Ajinkya Rahane said at a press conference ahead of the India vs England series:
"Shardul can bat and you saw him do it in Australia and has done it in domestic cricket too. Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, Ishant, Umesh have all put in their efforts in the nets. They all want to contribute.. even 20-30 runs in the end and that matters a lot."
It remains to be seen how the Indian lower-order batsmen will adjust to the challenging English conditions.
#3 Should India play one or two spinners?
Historically, Nottingham has been a good venue for the seamers, but India could be forced to go in with both their frontline spinners - Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja - in order to bolster their batting.
However, they also have Shardul Thakur in the mix and this leaves them with the conundrum of leaving out one spinner. Ashwin showed good form in the first-class match he played for Surrey ahead of the Test series and the odds are tipped in his favor if India do go in with one spinner.
#2 Absence of Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes has taken an indefinite break from all forms of cricket to focus on his mental health and this has left a huge hole in the England team. The hosts' batting order looked extremely fragile against New Zealand and India have the bowling to trouble them.
Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley have all been prolific scorers in English conditions and will need to step up and assist Joe Root if they are to post competitive scores. However, England will be challenged by a highly skilled Indian bowling attack that seems to have all bases covered.
#1 The swinging Dukes ball
We could see a match that's tilted heavily in favour of the bowlers, owing to the conditions and the ball used. Trent Bridge offers great assistance to the bowlers and in James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, there are bowlers from both teams who could dominate the batsmen.
Test cricket is more fun when the bowlers take charge, and the first India-England match could well be one where the batsmen will have their task cut out.
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