Steve Harmison, a former English bowler, questions the power of India’s batters before the upcoming five-Test series. He implied they lack the fear-factor of past teams. Harmison isn’t convinced by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill’s skills in the Test format, despite their success in shorter games.
India’s squad now includes younger, less tested players, as Ainkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara aren’t on the team. Both Gill and Shreyas Iyer have faced difficulties recently, but Jaiswal transitioned effectively to Test cricket with an average of 45.14 in four Tests, including one hundred runs and a fifty.
Harmison told IANS that India will lean a lot on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He thinks they don’t have the same caliber as Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dravid, and Laxman. The 45-year-old further explained:
“India will fancy their chances in their own environment, especially with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in their batting line-up. England, though, will feel that there are some vulnerabilities in that batting line-up. When I toured India, you had those big batters in the likes of Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman – all stellar players. I am not sure if it’s as intimidating as it was back in the day.”
“Shubman Gill is a very talented player and Yashasvi Jaiswal is a good player, so as Shreyas Iyer. But I don’t think there are more of established international players in red-ball as compared to white-ball set-up.”
Steve Harmison
Harmison also highlighted England’s weaknesses and said that, with a young lineup, Joe Root and Ben Stokes should be the ones to carry the load when it comes to scoring runs.
“Ben Duckett is still finding his way, while Zak Crawley is still trying to find his way, though he’s an exciting talent,” he continued. “So, Ben Stokes and Joe Root will have to shoulder the burden and the majority of pressure if England are to perform with the bat.
“A lot of their success with the bat will be largely down to Joe Root having one of his better series because he’s the best player of spin in the current line-up, and is amongst the modern-day great players of this generation alongside Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson.”
Steve Harmison
When England previously toured India, Root led the team in runs scored, with 368 runs over four Test matches. But after the first Test, when he scored two hundred and fifty in the opening innings, the wheels came off for the Yorkshire batsman.
“He will be a big miss for India in the initial period” – Steve Harmison on Mohammed Shami
Steve Harmison believes that even though Mohammed Shami missed the first two Tests, India has a lot of fast bowlers on its roster.
“Both teams would be happy with their fast-bowling line-ups,” he added. “Mohammed Shami is one of the best bowlers of the present time, whether it’s red-ball or white-ball cricket. He will be a big miss for India in the initial period. India are well-suited with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, but if Shami is available later, he will enter the equation.”
Steve Harmison
In relation to England, Steve Harmison believes that visitors should make prudent use of the resources at their disposal.
“England have James Anderson, who did bowl well when he was in India last time,” he added. “I can see him doing the same thing again, as England are going to use his experience wisely. So, they might go in with one of Anderson, Robinson, Wood or Atkinson in these games, where England would need a sublime and skilful fast bowler. England have picked their best four possible fast-bowling options.”
Steve Harmison
Hyderabad kicks off the first Test on January 25. The rest of the games? They’re in Vishakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamsala.