Match of Equals

One of the most awaited test series is starting today. It’s a game between one of the strongest test sides in the world cricket.

The way India – South Africa contest turned out to be a worthy watch, and final result proved India’s mettle in the world cricket, upcoming India – England series will be almost there, in fact for me it will be few notches above that.

It is English weather which is going to test Indians. World knows Indians are not good players of Rising deliveries but they also know that swinging conditions can cause equal damage to Indian stronghold. It will be a great to see Indians performing against the likes of Tremmlets and Andersons.

This is a landmark series for Indian maestros, surely the last for them to leave their mark on Englishmen. Dravid and Tendulkar have already proved their class in those conditions. But that one last mark on the honor list at Lords is yet to be seen (To everybody’s pity Agarkar is the last Indian to have his name over there), name on that honor list can be compared with the name on Wimbledon Championship Wall only. Laxman was never as great as he is in those conditions, might he is waiting for that right opportunity.

In a way it will also be important for Gambhir also to perform. He has been one consistent performer for India. With Sehwag, Indian opening always looked very strong. But Gambhir wont have that support this time around. He is a senior pro now and Mukund will surely need Gambhir’s help to wither very much potent English pace attack.

This series, Indian will miss Sehwag sourly. It really doesn’t bother him whether there are swinging conditions or seaming conditions… He is one tormentor, who will unsettle the whole opposition camp and can turn the result in one session. His blows just impact the moral of the opposition.

Our bowling strength will be tested in English conditions. It was English County Cricket which has given us revitalized Zaheer Khan, whom almost every world class batsman recognizes as one of the most lethal bowler of world cricket. The best thing to come out from West Indies tour was Ishant Sharma. That’s the only positive from the tour and I am sure that he will extract lot of help from English weather, though he doesn’t seem to have enough experience of swinging conditions. It will be tantalizing to use Praveen Kumar in English weather but I would still say Srisanth is a better choice. He has pace, He has aggression and he can bowl much better with older ball.

It will also be a test of MSD’s leadership. Post world cup victory, he hasn’t been tested at International levels. Almost everybody says, he has been lucky, but this series would decide whether he is plain lucky or he does know cricketing tactics.

English camp is very much upbeat about their performance. It’s their home turf; they got to be very confidant. But for me important thing is their batting line up. It never looked so strong before. Strauss, Cook and Trot are world class performers and that wonder boy KP can turn results on his own. He is surely in the leagues of legends of the game. Though Indians are better players of Spin, playing Swan will be tough. He knows his strengths and surely will be dangerous for lower middle order.

Though Indians are top ranked and Englishmen are at third position in latest ICC Test rankings, It’s match of equals for me. It will be pretty interesting to see whether Indian batting (though on the wrong side of 30) lives upto its name or its lively, youthful English bowling attack.