India renew their rivalry with England as Rajkot makes Test debut

By Chetan Narula

No other team has troubled India in the past five years as much as England has. Since 2011, India have lost three successive series to this opposition – two away (2011 and 2014) and once at home (2012-13). That home loss is a blemish on an otherwise pristine record since 2004-05, when Australia had last won a Test series on Indian soil. And now, England are back playing Test cricket in India.

SHOE IS ON THE OTHER FOOT
In 2012, England brought here a strong side that boasted of world-class bowlers in James Anderson and Graeme Swann. Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen anchored the batting lineup, while Dhoni's India were going through a tough transitional phase. The openers were out of form, there were questions about Sachin Tendulkar’s future, and the bowling led by Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh was directionless. Four years later, the tables have turned. India saw through that transitional period to come up with the nucleus of this current Test side. Alternately, England are caught in a downward spiral, with Cook and Joe Root burdened with the responsibility of scoring the bulk of runs. Their spin attack isn't as potent, and James Anderson’s fitness issues have left them banking on Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes.

ENGLAND'S ELEVEN
The 108-run loss in Dhaka will have some obvious consequences when their final lineup is decided. Ahead of the final practice session in Rajkot, Cook announced that Gary Balance has been dropped for the first Test. Instead, 19-year-old opener Haseeb Hameed will take his place, with Ben Duckett dropping down to no.4. They aren't sure about what spinners to select though. Moeen Ali may be a shoe-in, but Cook didn't express enough confidence in Zafar Ansari in Dhaka. With Ben Stokes included, it makes for a remarkable six-bowler attack for England.

COOK'S RECORD
On Wednesday, Cook will lead England out for a 55th time in Test cricket and overtake Michael Atherton's record of 54 Tests as captain.

Even in celebration though, the skipper was in a reflective mood on Tuesday. The reason being the rumours circulating about that this is his last series in-charge of the team. "I am taking every series as it comes. It could be two months, at the end of this series, or six months or even two years. It will be a series by series judgment like it has been for the last two years," he said. Even so, there is general consensus that a heavy defeat would certainly guarantee an end to his reign, marking the pressure England's leading run-scorer finds himself under.

INDIA'S ELEVEN
Gautam Gambhir is set to open again with Murali Vijay. The rest of the top order picks itself. India's current concerns are only about the make-up of their bowling attack. "If a team bats up to no.10, then your effort will be to try and beef up your bowling. If a team bats up to only nos.6-7, then you will feel four bowlers are enough," said Kohli on the eve of the game. It makes for an interesting scenario. In Rohit Sharma's absence, Karun Nair is a shoe-in to make his Test debut should India go in with seven batsmen and four bowlers. But, clearly, there is some shift in the thought process from the New Zealand series.

THE BIG GAMBLE
The Rajkot pitch isn't lively enough to play three pacers, but it is tough to ascertain if it is dry enough to allow for picking three spinners either. Will the team management gamble on picking only one frontline pacer, and pairing him with Hardik Pandya, thus allowing three spinners? It would be a tough call to pick one bowler from Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, as also a bold decision to back Pandya's relatively unknown ability in the longer format.