Parthiv Patel, former India wicketkeeper, is optimistic that India can win the upcoming Test series against England. Parthiv Patel suggests a 5-0 clean sweep when the series kicks off on January 25 in Hyderabad.
India has held a powerhouse position in home matches for over ten years. Their last Test series defeat was back in 2012, to Alastair Cook’s England, when India lost by 2-1 under MS Dhoni’s leadership.
However, considering India’s sterling performance recently in the Test format, both at home and overseas, Parthiv Patel is confident of an Indian victory over England. The former cricket player is credited with stating the following to Jio Cinema and IANS:
“I think the Indian team will aim for 5-0. I think they need a 4-0 win to get to the top of the WTC standings. Looking at the last cycle, India won a lot of overseas Tests. I don’t think India need to change their approach.”
Parthiv Patel
Parthiv Patel added:
“It’s the visiting teams that have to come up with different strategies. It remains to be seen whether Bazball will work here or not. If the ball spins, I don’t think it will work here because there’s too much quality in India’s spin attack that includes Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar and Kuldeep.”
Parthiv Patel
India just participated in the shortest Test match in the history of the sport. Only 642 deliveries were made in the Cape Town Test match between South Africa and the tourists before the visitors won by seven wickets.
England need backup to Bazball against India: Pragyan Ojha
Pragyan Ojha, a former left-arm spinner for India, participated in the conversation as well and believes that England would support their Bazball philosophy in India. The visitors, who defeated Pakistan 3-0 in a Test series in December 2022, will feel confident in their abilities under the new circumstances.
Ben Stokes and company should have a backup plan, too, since Ojha cautioned that the pitches in India could not be as fast as those in Pakistan. He said:
“I feel England will be very confident with the strategy they have adopted. But they need a back-up plan because the conditions won’t be like what they were in Pakistan. The wickets were slightly better and favored the batsmen. Here, the conditions will favor the spinners. So how they tackle this will be very important.”
Pragyan Ojha
Ojha went on to say that it won’t be simple for the visitors to unleash their ultra-attacking style of cricket in their den against a strong Indian attack. He continued, saying:
“Bazball involves playing fearless cricket and England tries to gain a psychological edge using this strategy. Executing Bazball will be difficult in India because it won’t be easy to play the Indian spinners or for that matter Jasprit Bumrah and the other pace bowlers.”
Pragyan Ojha
In 2021, England faced a tough 3-1 defeat in its India Test series. Anticipating similar tricky pitches this time, England might take heart from Australia’s victory over India on a tricky Indore pitch in the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.