India and England will face off in a five-match Test series and former England captain Nasser Hussain believes that India They are favorites to win the series. The hosts have won 16 consecutive Test series at home since England last defeated them in 2012 under the captaincy of Alastair Cook, where duo Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar spun their net and staged the incredible 2-2 series victory. 1 against India at home.
The baton has passed to India as their players and fans wait to find out if the rank changers prove strong enough to undo what Bazball is famous for. The aggressive style of batting in Test cricket, which England calls Bazball, may backfire in India as the spinning pitches will make it difficult for batsmen to attack from the first ball. However, former England captain Nasser Hussain believes that Bazball have not lost a single Test series and England cannot be ruled out against India.
“India are the favorites but Bazball has held his own in every challenge he has faced and the track record of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum is really good, I wouldn’t rule them out.” Nasser said. Hussain on Sky Sports.
“Bazball has had a lot of success, especially at home and the two most difficult places to tour are India or Australia. It’s going to be a huge challenge for England. India wants to see how this new approach will work at home. “It will be fascinating cricket and it will be interesting to see how this particular team will take on one of the big teams in cricket at the moment, which is team India.” Nasser Hussain added.
The range spinners in India will be one of the toughest challenges for Bazball as the tracks will spin prodigiously and England’s record against spinners has not been very good. Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav are the four Indian spinners included in the squad for the Test series against England.
Nasser Hussain believes Ben Stokes will lead England to another big series win
However, ben stokes and Brendon McCullum have proven their leadership time and time again. There was speculation about whether England could handle the flat pitches before they toured Pakistan for the first time in 17 years and, to everyone’s surprise, they ended up with a 3-0 series whitewash in 2022 against Pakistan.
Nasser Hussain added: “Last winter in Pakistan, Stokes’ captaincy was magnificent in the way he waited for the reverse swing and came forward and then saw the wicket turn and left it to his spinners.”
Ben Stokes will lead the team against India in the Test series but will only feature in a batting capacity as he is still recovering from his knee injury and is highly unlikely to bowl in the series. Apart from that, Ben Foakes also earned a recall in the England Test team. He has not featured in the Test team since the drawn series in New Zealand in February.
“Bairstow improved with the bat and gloves as the Ashes progressed. He admitted that he was not well prepared after that serious injury and the balance of the team in which Stokes does not bowl will be even more challenging.” said Nasser Hussain. “Bairstow is probably the one they will go for unless he is spinning big, in which case England will want Foakes because he is an incredible gloveman.”
The balance of the England team is yet to be decided with Stokes occupying a batting role and Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes included as wicketkeeper-batsmen. India have named three goalkeepers KL Rahul, KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel in the squad. The series will begin on January 25 when the first Test begins at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.