"The Indian team can crush England with their batting" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra feels the Indian batting lineup has the ability to overwhelm England in the upcoming four-match Test series. The Indian batsmen are renowned for scoring big in home conditions.
India posted massive first-innings scores in their last two Test series against South Africa and Bangladesh respectively, with their top-order scoring the bulk of the runs.
In a video shared on his Facebook page, Aakash Chopra previewed the India-England Test series.
The former cricketer observed that the return of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma are huge positives for Team India. He was particularly delighted at the prospect of Kuldeep Yadav playing Test cricket for the first time in two years.
"Kohli and Bumrah are back, which is a very good thing. Ishant Sharma is fit and available, and I think he is playing. Kuldeep Yadav will be seen playing Test cricket after two years, and I am delighted for it. The hope is that the ball will turn, and he will make England lick the dust," said Aakash Chopra.
Aakash Chopra feels that India possess sufficient batting might to put the English bowling attack to the sword.
"The Indian batting will be their biggest strength. The Indian team can crush England with their batting. If you start from Rohit Sharma till Rishabh Pant, all the batsmen in this lineup have the ability to score 150-200 runs," observed Chopra.
Aakash Chopra expects the Indian top order to score big during the series.
"Gill has not scored a century in Test cricket to date, but I think he will do that in this series, and Rohit Sharma might hit one or two more double-centuries. And Kohli is hungry, so he will score the big runs, and Pujara will not get out. So I feel a lot of runs will be scored," added Aakash Chopra.
"The game will be defined by how Dom Bess and Jack Leach bowl" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra has opined that the bowling of Jack Leach and Dom Bess could be key to England's prospects in the series.
"The game will be defined by how Dom Bess and Jack Leach bowl. Their three fast bowlers - Anderson, Broad and Jofra - will all be fine. But the problem will be how they bowl spin. They took wickets in Sri Lanka, but if you see those matches, they bowled full tosses as well as too short, and both the bowlers do that," observed Chopra.
The 43-year-old further stated that the Indian batsmen could demolish the English attack if the two spinners are unable to bowl restrictive line and lengths.
"In such a case, the Indian batsmen will not throw their wickets like the Sri Lankans. They will torment you a lot. England can only compete if Dom Bess and Jack Leach can keep the Indian batsmen quiet. Otherwise, India can steamroll the England team," concluded Aakash Chopra.
Dom Bess and Jack Leach took twelve and ten wickets respectively in the Sri Lanka series. But they struggled to contain the hosts in the first innings of the second Test when not much spin was on offer.
The duo will have to up their games by several notches, as India would provide a more formidable challenge than Sri Lanka.