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SPORTS FEBRUARY 02, 2024 | The Indian Eye 42

ENGLAND IN INDIA

It is ‘Bazball’ against India

spinners for five-match Test series

on turning tracks

India’s stalwart batter Virat Kohli was crowned as the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer

of the Year for 2023 on Thursday

OUR BUREAU
Hyderabad/Dubai
ngland’s ‘bazball’ is set to
face its biggest challenge as
Ethey gear up to face India in
a five-match series on likely spinning
surfaces here. India skipper Rohit
Sharma already stated that the way
England plays isn’t their concern but
the story of the five-match series will
be ‘Bazball’ against spin.
The last time England ended
with a series win on Indian soil was
in 2012 when Alastair Cook and Kev-
in Pietersen batted to perfection but
the series fell in the visitors’ favour
because of Monty Panesar, Graeme
Swann and James Anderson’s hero-
ics with the ball.

Since then only Australia man-
aged to almost draw a Test se-
ries on Indian soil in 2016/17.
While the spin against ‘Bazball’

will unfold, India batter Shub-
man Gill will find himself in the Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates the wicket of England’s Ben Duckett during Day 1 of 1st Test match, at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in
spotlight as he looks to estab- Hyderabad on Thursday (ANI)
lish himself in the No. 3 spot, India’s wicketkeeper scenario (490) and Ravindra Jadeja (275) eye- players to pick the playing XI. Vi-

which belonged to Cheteshwar will also be a talking point after head ing to reach the 500 and 300-wicket rat Kohli will miss the first two Test
coach Rahul Dravid confirmed that
matches due to personal reasons,
milestones respectively.
Pujara till 2023. KL Rahul won’t be taking the role while KL Rahul won’t be taking up
behind the stumps. Rohit on selection challenges gloves throughout the five-match se-
The first Test from Thursday at KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel are ahead of Tests ries against England.
the Rajiv Gandhi International Sta- the two players who can take the With plenty of roles to fill and
dium in Hyderabad is marking the role behind the stumps, but Rohit ndia skipper Rohit Sharma the added concern of whether to go
beginning of a new dawn in the his- during the pre-match press confer- opened up about the “headache” with a third additional spinner, Rohit
tory of Indian Test cricket. The hosts ence didn’t reveal who could fill in Ithat the management faced ahead talked about the number of challeng-
are appearing in a Test match with- the empty spot. of the first Test against England here es that came up during the selection
out Kohli, Pujara or Ajinkya Rahane During the series, a couple of on Thursday in view of the availability of playing XI.
in their playing XI for the first time milestones are also on the cusp of of various good options.
since November 2011. breaking with Ravichandran Ashwin India has a pool of talented Continued on next page... >>

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