It may be a new-look India, but they’ll provide a familiar threat, says Stuart Broad ahead of this summer’s Test series…
I’ve said in this blog before what a huge year this is for the England Men’s Test team.
For some time now, the back-to-back series against India and Australia have been identified as a seismic challenge for a team that is still evolving under Head Coach Brendon McCullum. That absolutely remains the case.
However, the narrative for the home series against India has shifted since I last wrote about it.
The retirements of captain Rohit Sharma, alongside the sport’s biggest name, Virat Kohli, have left the shape of this Indian side looking very different to what we expected as recently as early May.
As players, we were always taught not to focus too closely on individuals in an opposition team.
If you did, you risked taking your eye off the job at hand. But with Kohli, it was hard not to focus on him.
We did a pretty good job of containing him when playing at home and kept his average here under 34 (against his career average of almost 47).
England would have been planning for him to be around and playing a big part in the series this summer, and the make-up of the team certainly looks different without him.
The same can be said for Rohit, who was a huge leader and also leaves a gap.
Jasprit Bumrah, of course, has leadership experience, as does Rishabh Pant, but in Shubman Gill I feel they’ve appointed a younger player with one eye on the future — someone who could be in the role for a long stint.
Shubman Gill will captain India’s Test team for the first time this summer, following Rohit Sharma’s retirement.
Bumrah and Pant have huge individual roles to play in the team, and not burdening them with captaincy could be a masterstroke from Head Coach Gautam Gambhir.
Their broader squad is – as always – filled with talent; a few familiar faces and some that will be playing here for the first time.
A couple of spells reminded the fans of how he can change momentum in a game, single-handedly.
Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the order can change the game in a session if he gets away from a bowling attack. He scored an incredible double-hundred against England last year in Rajkot, so the team know what he’s capable of.
From a bowling perspective, there’s no Mohammed Shami, who has struggled with injuries of late, but in Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, you’ve got two very experienced names who have opened the bowling in this country before and caused England’s batsmen a few issues.
How much they will rely on a spinner on England’s wickets, we will have to see, but they have Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar in the squad, who I’m sure will play their part at some stage during the five-match Test series.
Looking at England, it is hard to take too much from the four-day Test at Trent Bridge.
It was great to see Crawley, Duckett and Pope getting hundreds at the top of the order. Zimbabwe weren’t at their best that first day when the runs were flowing, but as batters, you still have to apply yourself — and they did just that.
From a bowling perspective, it’s always good to see Ben Stokes at full tilt, and he didn’t disappoint.
A couple of spells reminded the fans of how he can change momentum in a game, single-handedly. Shoaib Bashir bowled nicely, particularly when closing out the game, which was also really encouraging.
A fair bit was made of comments ahead of the game around Jacob Bethell coming back into the team.
I think England have some tough decisions to make at the top, but they are coming from a position of strength.
The management know how Crawley raises his game against India and Australia — the numbers show as much.
They’ll still be very keen to take the game to India and impose themselves on them — I don’t see that changing — but there might be a bit more flexibility.
I can see them sticking with him for both series now, and I am aligned with that. With Pope, he’s a leader within that dressing room. Stokes trusts him, and the team believe in him, so I’d expect him to play as well.
Stokes has also talked a little bit about how the team are looking to tweak ‘Bazball’ this summer, and that the team’s aggressive approach could be adapted if the match situation requires.
England will still be very keen to take the game to India and impose themselves on them — I don’t see that changing — but there might be a bit more flexibility, for example, if there is the opportunity to try and save a Test match.
I always loved the challenge of a five-match Test series, and a draw can be so valuable in the context of a series result.
The teams are close in terms of the mix of youth and experience and, with that — weather permitting — I don’t actually see many of them going the full five days.
I can also see the momentum changing from side to side throughout, which will make for good viewing, and I hope to see some of you at Headingley and over the course of the summer!
The guys at Fitzdares have given me a £500 free bet pot to use on a selection of the major sporting events of my choice. All the profits will go to The Broad Appeal, helping raise awareness and support for Motor Neurone Disease.
I added another couple of winners to the pot last month, here’s what I’m going for this month…
£100 PSG @ 9/2
FIFA Club World Cup, 14th June — 13th July
£50 EW Sweet William @ 5/1
Ascot Gold Cup, 18th June
£100 Oscar Piastri @ 7/4
British Grand Prix, 6th July
£100 Aryna Sabalenka @ 5/2
Ladies’ Wimbledon, 30th June — 13th July
£100 England @ 18/5
Women’s Euros, 2nd July — 27th July
Stuart Broad is Fitzdares’ Brand Ambassador.
