The sun’s been beating down on the west Yorkshire city of Leeds for the last few days. The temperature’s higher than it normally is during this time of the year. And, of course, there’s the heat of the much-awaited India-England Test series as well as the stakes are very high for all concerned.While it’s a new start for India in a fresh World Test Championship (WTC) cycle under a brand new leader in Shubman Gill, for England it’s another opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the longer format of the game with their famed, aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach.Test cricket in England is largely dependent on two variables — the colour of the pitch and the sky. For now, the bright sun is complemented by a green tinge on the 22 yards. According to locals, there could be 10-12 mm of grass on the track and that could make it a major challenge for batters on both sides.While recent trends in English cricket have suggested that teams batting second could be better off, one of India’s best wins in England — at this same ground in Headingley in 2002 came after Sourav Ganguly’s brave decision to bat first on a green top. But that team had the likes of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in their absolute prime and Ganguly had the courage to go in with two spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, who played massive roles in the win on the fourth and fifth days.
Things are significantly different now. The Indian batting lineup wears an inexperienced look following the departures of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. While KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal as openers are proven material, the probable debut of Sai Sudharsan at No. 3 will be something that the cricket world will be looking at with a lot of interest.Gill himself at No. 4 allows the captain the cushion of playing against the slightly older ball while Rishabh Pant’s batting form at No. 5 will be absolutely crucial. He had a hit-and-miss series in Australia with the misses outweighing the hits, but the new vicecaptain has the wherewithal to take down any attack. “There could be a bit of inexperience in the lineup, but then we are coming into this England tour with no baggage of failure,” Gill said ahead of a practice session on Thursday.The fact that the English pace attack of Josh Tongue, Brydon Carse, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes isn’t exactly Anderson-Broad material should also give a lot of hope to the Indian middle order.Karun Nair, Shardul Thakur comeback on the cards?Karun Nair, with his rich vein of form in domestic cricket followed by a double hundred in the first practice match, has almost forced the team management’s hand to pick him. The Karnataka right-hander should be India’s No. 6, back in national colours after 2017 — but the debate could be around the fourth pacer/allrounder’s slot.Quiz: Who’s that IPL player?Shardul Thakur can be quite a handful both with bat and ball. But the temptation will be there to play Nitish Reddy for his batting skills, even though he is just about steady with the ball. Reddy was one of India’s positive investments during the Australia series.
India’s pace cards hold the keyIt’s not always the case that an Indian pace attack starts a series in England with a superior pace attack, at least on paper. Jasprit Bumrah has promised in a recent interview he will play the first Test and in the company of Mohammed Siraj, it’s one of the most lethal opening attacks you can ask for.Prasidh Krishna was very good when India played their last Test in Sydney a few months ago. His ability to generate steep bounce at a pace on any pitch should stand him in good stead when it comes to getting the nod ahead of left-arm swing bowler Arshdeep Singh.The pace attack has to be at the top of its game because England are banking on the experience of their batting lineup to do the job. On a pace-friendly track, the general feeling is that the likes of Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope and captain Stokes has more quality and experience than the Indian batting.
