Former England skipper Nasser Hussain feels it will be important for England not to have any sort of excuse culture if Indian pitches start turning from the first day onwards. India had won against England by 3-1 in 2021 in the home conditions.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel had wreaked havoc in the four-match Test series picking 32 and 27 wickets respectively. The Indian tracks are again expected to aid the spinners and the English batters will have their work cut out.
Meanwhile, India played on a minefield pitch at Newlands, Cape Town against South Africa and skipper Rohit Sharma said he doesn’t have any problem playing on such surfaces if the rest of the world can keep their mouth shut on Indian pitches if they turn from opening day.
“It will be very important, too, for England not to have any sort of excuse culture. If it does spin big like it did last time — certainly after England won the first Test — it will be the same for both sides. There can be no muttering about it being unfair or not good for Test cricket,” Nasser Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
Hussain added that experienced Stokes and Root will hold the key for the visitors as they have a solid defense and they should look to play with guile against the Indian spinners.
“Stokes and Root, in particular, have a really good defensive technique against spin, so they should not be so keen to attack that they become reckless. Yes, back yourself to put the bowlers under pressure, but make sure you survive that first half an hour,” Hussain wrote
The former right-hander added that he will play Ben Foakes if the ball turns square from the opening day.
“Stokes not being able to bowl makes it hard to balance the side, but if it does spin big, I’d play Ben Foakes, particularly now Brook is missing and England can fit in both Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow as specialist batters, because you need your best keeper when the ball is turning sharply,” Hussain opined.
India and England will take on each other in the first Test match from 25th January onwards at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
