Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly has recently said that batting could be a concern for India in red-ball cricket in England. However, the former captain also stated that they will have to work hard when they play in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final and the five-match Test series against England in August as well.
Sourav Ganguly further added that Virat Kohli’s team will have to put up 300-350 runs in England to put pressure on the Kiwis as well.
“Batting has been a concern for Team India in England. We made over 450 runs at Trent Bridge, so when you make big runs the opposition comes under pressure. Even the bowlers get a total that they can defend when the team scores big. India should forget the past, the lack of big totals on their previous tours,” Ganguly again shared on e-Salaam Cricket 2021.
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Sourav Ganguly, who had an average of 65.35 from 9 Tests in England, also added that India’s future will depend a lot on how the openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill play in the upcoming Tests as well. And their main motive should be to play with the new Dukes ball well.
“This tour therefore, will be very crucial for openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Not just the WTC Final but also the 5 Tests against England. They will have to play out the new ball and put a price on their wickets. If they are able to do that then they will be able to set the game for the batsmen coming after them like Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and India’s best batsman on current form Rishabh Pant,” the former India captain said.
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“Opening is very crucial in overseas conditions and India will have to look into this. I’m sure Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri and the team management will be discussing a lot about this. The game has changed over the last 15-20 years, teams are scoring at a faster rate now because batsmen play a lot of shots and don’t take a lot of time. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will have to find ways of play out the new ball and make it old enough. It’s not that the old ball won’t swing in England, the likes of Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult will get movement with the old ball as well that’s why I feel the opening partnership will be very crucial for the Indian team,” Sourav Ganguly said.
