"Very little chance of England getting an upper hand in this Test series"- Saba Karim
Former wicketkeeper Saba Karim believes England will have very little chance of toppling India in the upcoming four-match Test series starting from 5th February. The former India international feels that England might only have a chance of getting better of the hosts in the Pink ball Test in Ahmedabad,.
Team India will be brimming with confidence after their historic series win in Australia. Speaking exclusively to Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda Live, Saba Karim said that it would be key for English bowlers to keep the run rate in check to stay in the game. On asked about England's chances in the upcoming series, Karim said:
"On home soil, only in the Pink ball Test. Otherwise, very little chance of England getting an upper hand in this Test series. You need to have a combination of both pace and spin to pick up some early wickets with the new ball. Also, it is very important to have quality spinners, who can restrict the run rate. That is one-way Indian batsman can be put under some pressure. Most of our Indian players are stroke players, and they love to play their shots and love to rotate the strike. So England, through the combination of pace and spin, can somehow manage to control the run rate, then they do have a chance of at least remaining in the game."
Adding further, Saba Karim feels the visitors will find it hard to go past India given their team balance.
"But I sincerely doubt that. because we have a very strong batting unit, strong pace bowling combination and the way our spinners are shaping up. So we have a very potent combination of spin and pace bowling attack to really dismantle England in the home series." added Karim.
England are coming to India on the back of an impressive Test series win against Sri Lanka. Joe Root looked in ominous touch as he scored two back to back big hundreds. However, facing India would be a different challenge altogether for the Three Lions.
India currently leading the ICC World Test Championship table
The upcoming four-match Test series will be part of the ICC World Test Championship where India leads the table with 430 points. England are currently on 4th with 412 points.
The top two teams will fight it out for the Test champions crown later this year in Lord's. As things stand, England will have to either beat India by 3-0 or 4-0 to get into the top two. They can still get there with other combinations of series win, but they would have to depend on some other results to go their way.