Former Indian wicket-keeper batsman Deep Dasgupta believes the biggest challenge for the England bowlers will be to pick 20 wickets in the tough Indian conditions.
England has quality fast bowlers – Stuart Broad and James Anderson – in their squad but the Indian conditions are not conducive to seam bowling. Furthermore, England has a gun fast bowler in Jofra Archer, who can trouble the opposition batsmen with his extra pace.
Dasgupta feels a lot will depend on the spin duo of Jack Leach and Dom Bess. Both of these spinners had scalped 22 wickets in the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. However, they don’t have a lot of experience under their belt as they have played 12 Test matches each.
Furthermore, they will be up against a potent Indian batting unit, which is in decent form with the bat. India’s full-time skipper Virat Kohli is also back in the squad, which adds value to the batting line-up.
“I think the biggest challenge for England when I look at that side is picking up 20 wickets. Obviously, you have big names, Broad himself has more than 500 Test wickets and Anderson has more than 600 wickets and Jofra Archer is the bowler that he is.
“On the other hand, on these surfaces, you need experienced quality spinners and I think that’s where they have quality in Jack Leach and Dom Bess, but I don’t know if they have the experience bowling on these surfaces. So, that’s I think the biggest challenge for England,” Deep Dasgupta said on Sports Today.
Dasgupta added that the visitors have the experience in their batting line-up but it is going to be a challenge for them to pick 20 wickets in the arduous Indian conditions.
“If you look at their batting order and the batsmen that they have, you know they have runs in them. Like Stokes and Root and Buttler and all these guys, but when you look at the bowling attack on these surfaces especially, and in these conditions, you look at 20 wickets and say that is going to be the biggest challenge for England,” he said.
There is no doubt that England will need to bowl at the top of their game to get the better of the Indian batsmen. The Indian batters are brought on these spin-friendly pitches and it will be interesting to note how Dom Bess and Jack Leach will bowl in the Indian conditions.
