London [UK], January 15 (ANI): Former England captain Nasser Hussain said that the Indian fans are waiting to put ‘Bazball’ to bed during the five-Test series against the Three Lions from January 25 onwards and said that Indian spinners and batters will outplay those of England on turning tracks.
The five-Test series between these two rivals will kickstart from January 25 onwards at Hyderabad and end on March 11 in Dharamshala. This series will be an extremely crucial fixture for both sides, as a lot of ICC World Test Championship points are at stake.
The tour has a lot of exciting stories and subplots ready for the fans, be it skipper Ben Stokes’ inclusion in the squad after knee surgery, the battle between England’s debutant spinners Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir and India’s dangerous spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel, or the absence of Indian pacer Mohammed Shami from the first two matches due to injury.
England last won a series in India 12 years back when Alastair Cook-led England dominated the Indian team in every department, including spin bowling, with spin twins Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar playing a crucial role in a 2-1 series win.
“There has been a lot of talk about Indian cricket and there has been a lot of talk about Bazball,” said Hussain on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
“My sense in the World Cup was that a lot of Indian fans are waiting to see how to put Bazball to bed.”
“I think what India should do is ask for good pitches that spin a bit because I think their spinners and batters will then out-bat and out-spin ours. “
“If they ask for pitches that spin a lot, then it becomes a bit of a lottery and brings England’s spinners into the game. The way Bazball goes about its business, they would not die wondering,” he concluded his point.
Uncapped duo Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir will form a four-man strong spin attack, consisting of Jack Leach, returning from an injury that ruled him out of The Ashes last year and teenage sensation Rehan Ahmed.
India has also named four spinners, which include Axar and Kuldeep Yadav, along with the veteran pair Ashwin and Jadeja. The last time England visited India was in 2021, when Ashwin and Axar combined to take 60 wickets and guided India to a come-from-behind 3-1 series win.
England Test squad: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root and Mark Wood.
Indian Ssquad for the first two Tests against England: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan. (ANI)
