Former England skipper Michael Vaughan reckons Ben Stokes-led team will have their work cut out against India and it will be very tough for them to win in the difficult Indian conditions. Vaughan feels English batters will face a lot of difficulty against the spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel.
Meanwhile, England has adopted Bazball under Brendon McCullum and they have also reaped rewards for their aggressive batting style. The Three Lions have won 13 out of the last 18 Test matches but Vaughan feels it will be difficult for them to savor success against India with Bazball.
In fact, England lost the first two Ashes Test matches against Australia with Nathan Lyon doing the job for the Pat Cummins-led team. Thus, Vaughan feels it will be even more difficult for England against quality spinners like Ashwin, Jadeja, and Patel.
Speaking to Fox Sports, Michael Vaughan said, “If you add in Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel on spinning wickets in India, they may get blown away, they may get absolutely destroyed. They will go out and play the same way, we’ve already spoken about the impact they are going to try and achieve in India with the way they play,” said Vaughan.
He added: “It will be great watching, but you will have to fancy three quality spinners might do a job on England when one quality spinner in Nathan Lyon did the job in English conditions. It’s going to be very tough for them to win in India.”
Vaughan said he is proud of the way England played in the Ashes against Australia and is happy that Bazball has paid rich dividends for the team in the last 18 months.
“I’m a huge admirer of Bazball, I think it’s been a revelation in the last 18 months and there’s not one Australian that can look me in the eye and say they didn’t admire the way England played in the Ashes. Right they didn’t win the Ashes but the way England went about their cricket was fantastic, everyone loved watching them play, it’s risky, at times it is bonkers,” said Vaughan.
Vaughan added: “There are times where it is absolutely crackers but it’s great to watch and I’ve not met one Australian, they have enjoyed watching them play.”
England squad for Test series against India: Ben Stokes, James Anderson, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson*, Jonny Bairstow, Shoib Bashir*, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley*, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood. (* indicates uncapped players).
