The odds are stacked against them, but they won’t go down without a fight. This is what former England skipper Nasser Hussain believes in as he stated that despite the hosts India being the favourites, the success that England have experienced in Test cricket since Bazball was introduced gives them a fighting chance.
The recent history between the two sides, on one hand, is completely lopsided. India have been utterly dominant over England in Test when playing at home, having secured an undefeated streak against the English side since 2013.
The last time these two teams met in the long format in India, India secured a 3-1 series win, back in 2021, after England snatched away the first game.
But, on the other hand, one cannot ignore the undeinable success that England have achieved since the infamous Bazball came into play. The visitors are yet to lose a Test series under the Stokes-McCullum leadership, and will desperately be looking to break the streak and clinch the series away from the hosts.
“India are the favourites, but every single challenge Bazball has faced they’ve stuck to their guns and Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s record is seriously good, I wouldn’t write them off. Bazball has been very successful especially at home and the two toughest places to tour are India or Australia.”
“It’s going to be a massive challenge for England. India want to see how this new approach will work at home. It will be fascinating cricket and will be interesting to see how this particular side will go against what is one of the great cricketing outfits at the moment, which is the India side,” said Hussain to Sky Sports.
Another issue that England are required to sort out before they take on India is to figure out their first-choice wicketkeeper for the series.
The two candidates p for the role ate Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes, which is bound to be a tricky call for the team to make.
“Bairstow got better with the bat and gloves as the Ashes went on. He admitted he was undercooked after that serious injury and the balance of the side with Stokes not bowling is going to be even more challenging.”
“Bairstow is probably the one they’ll look to unless it is spinning big in which case England will want Foakes because he is an incredible gloveman,” concluded Hussain.
England’s tour of India begins with the initial match being played at Hyderabad on January 25, followed by other matches at Visakhapatnam (February 2-6), Rajkot (February 15-19), Ranchi (February 23-27) and Dharamshala (March 7-11).
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