Former English cricketer, Mark Butcher reckons that Joe Root and his men will be happy with the absence of Ravindra Jadeja in India’s Test squad, as the Englishmen recently exposed their vulnerability against the left-arm spin in Sri Lanka. England whitewashes the Islanders in the two-match series but struggled to read left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya who claimed 10 wickets in the second match at Galle.
The Indian all-rounder Jadeja will be missing the first couple of Tests after fracturing his thumb in Australia and left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav is not a certainty in India’s slow bowling attack led by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
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During a chat with Times of India, Mark Butcher who played 71 tests between 1997-2004, said, “Our batters had problems facing Embuldeniya. England will be buoyed by Jadeja’s absence. India possesses a world-class bowling attack but Jadeja adds a different dimension to it.”
Assistant coach Graham Thorpe warned the England batsmen on Friday against playing the sweep shot abundance against the Indian spinners in the four-match Test series scheduled to be commencing on Chennai on Feb. 5. The tourists are expected to alter their opening pair and Butcher expected Rory Burns to open the innings replacing Zak Crawley, who is back from paternity leave.
Expalining the same, Mark Butcher said, “Burns and (Dom) Sibley should be opening in the first test. A left-right combination is handy and England will want to stick with them. If the two get off to a good start, the rest of the batsmen too will gain confidence.”
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Burns, speedster Jofra Archer, and all-rounder Ben Stokes arrived earlier in India after being rested for the series in Sri Lanka. The trio, having completed their quarantine period, have managed to commence their training at Chennai’s M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday. The full squad will train for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, a team spokesman said.
