The Test series between India and England begins on January 25. These two teams will compete against each other in five Test matches on Indian soil over the next month and a half. If we look at Team India's record on home soil in the last 11 years and England's style of play in the last two years, this series will be a blockbuster. Everyone is eagerly waiting for this series. This is also because England was the last team to beat the Indian team in a Test series on home soil. In 2012, England defeated India in the Test series. In such a situation, it will be interesting to see whether the British will repeat this 11-year-old story or whether the Indian team will maintain their supremacy at home.
The excitement for this series is at its peak. The current Indian team is very strong. Just last year, India defeated a strong Test team like Australia 2-1 at home. But England is no less either. Since coach Brendon McCullum was brought into the Test squad and Ben Stokes took over as captain, this side has been playing wonderful cricket. The batsmen of this team bat without fear. This English style of play Test in the style of ODI was called “Baseball”. This style of play has given England surprising victories in many Test matches. This is the reason that anything can happen in this series and this is what increases the curiosity of this series.
England surprised India eleven years ago. Even then, the Indian team was full of stars. The batting team was even stronger than today. But England staged a shocking comeback after losing the first game of the four-match Test series. The English batsmen gave a befitting reply to the Indian bowling and the English spin pair wreaked havoc on India's spin-friendly wickets. What will happen this time cannot be predicted yet, but there is no doubt that the English team can surprise Team India this time too.
11 years ago, great Test batsmen like Sehwag and Gambhir came to the opening ceremony of the Indian team. Then there was a strong middle class like Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. Later, Yuvraj and MS Dhoni were also there. Team India does not have such a strong batting line-up at the moment. Team India was also in no way inferior to today's team in bowling. Then there were R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha in the spin pair and Zaheer and Ishaan in the fast pair. This means that the team that beat England a decade ago was at least slightly stronger than today's team.
The difference here lies in the English team. The English team was very strong during this time. The team had great batsmen such as Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and Matt Prior. In bowling, the team also had the pair Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, who played a crucial role. This time the English team touring India is a little weaker than this team, so it can be said that it will not be easy for England to win the Test series in India this time.
England's strength is its style of play. In “baseball” style, England defeated Pakistan 3-0 in the Test series in their home country in 2022. This time England had also drawn the series with Australia through baseball in the Ashes. She also used this style to defeat India in a Test match. This style of play gives England confidence. Despite the average batting line-up, English batsmen have managed to achieve great success with this style of play. A major strength of England is its coach and captain. England's game under the leadership of McCullum and Stokes is worth watching.
England's biggest weakness is their spin department. Apart from Jack Leach, there is no experienced spinner in England. England will definitely miss good spinners on India's spin-friendly wickets. The England team has an excellent fast bowling attack, but if you want to win the series in India you need to have at least two good spinners. England also won in 2012 because Swann and Panesar were in that team. But this time England look very weak in this regard.