Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer reckons that this English summer will belong to the Indian that Virat Kohli and he also predicted that Team India will be favorites in the five-match series starting August 1in Birmingham. Jaffer, who was part of the drawn Test series in England in 2002 and the landmark series win in 2007, in which he amassed 185 runs in three matches, called on Kohli to play the ball as late as possible in bowling-friendly conditions.
As quoted in Times of India, Wasim said, “I am sure Virat Kohli will succeed in England this time — he’s far too good a player to fail here again. Since that tour in 2014, he’s played all over the world and done brilliantly. The only thing he needs to be careful about is that he needs to play the ball late, and close to his body. He shouldn’t play the ball away from his body, something which you can afford to do in India once you’re set. In England, the ball moves around even after you’re set, so he should avoid those expansive drives.”
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Currently, the Indian team is standing at the no.1 position in the ICC Test rankings, but their success has been largely in the home conditions along with some series wins in Sri Lanka and one in the West Indies. In their most recent overseas tour, to South Africa at the start of the year, they lost 1-2. England, ranked fifth, have not won their last three Test series and Jaffer thus put Kohli’s team ahead.
Describing the same, Jaffer said, “I would say that India are the favorites going into this series, but they’ll have to play smart cricket. They have all the ammunition to beat England. In bowling, they depend too much on James Anderson and Stuart Broad. If both struggle, they don’t have another ‘go to’ bowler. Unlike a three-Test series, a five-Test series allows a team time to come back, but I think India can surprise everyone if they gain early momentum.”
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Of India’s main batsmen, Kohli (68), Murali Vijay (53), KL Rahul (58) and Dinesh Karthik (828) scored half-centuries on day one of the tour game against Essex, while Shikhar Dhawan was out first ball, Cheteshwar Pujara made 1 and Ajinkya Rahane 17. Jaffer wondered whether Pujara, who earlier this season struggled for form in county cricket, would get a chance in the playing XI on August 1 or not.
Wasim wrote, “I was a bit surprised to see Cheteshwar Pujara struggle to score runs in county cricket this season. I have a feeling that he’ll be left out of the first Test, where India might choose to go in with all the three openers — Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul.”
