India s chances in test match series against Englamd

                                                            Once again, S.M. India's first series victory was against Pakistan later the same year. I don’t see England winning any of the Test matches with the kind of spin attack they’ve got,” Gautam Gambhir said. A completely different challenge for someone like Joe Root: Gautam Gambhir further said that the upcoming series will be also a challenge for England skipper Joe Root who was in red-hot form in Sri Lanka. He is going to sit out of the Brisbane Test but is expected to be available against England," a BCCI source told PTI. While the Indian team management is heaving a sigh of relief that Bumrah hasn't sustained a tear but wants to be on the side of caution as playing in Brisbane and breaking down in the middle of the Test match could have an even more adverse effect on the team."If we take the risk of him playing at 50 percent, what if the injury aggravates and he breaks down in the middle of the match and then ruled out for the better part of the England series? "England is the last series which will decide the qualification for World Test Championship final and we are in contention and would require a fit Bumrah," the senior BCCI source added. It is now expected that two-Test old Mohammed Siraj will be leading the Indian attack and will be joined by Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, and T Natarajan in the Brisbane Test, starting January 15. Unless, Bumrah is fielded at 30 percent fitness, risking the entire England series, T Natarajan will make his debut. The problem with the Indian team is after injured KL Rahul's departure and Hanuma Vihari's grade 2 tear, there are no back-up middle-order batsmen left in the reserves. The only two available batsmen are two out of form openers in Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal. It remains to be seen if India, knowing their depleted strength and long tail, decides to take the conservative route of playing four bowlers and six batsmen with Rishabh Pant as the wicketkeeper. If Agarwal's scans reveal that it's a bruise and not a fracture, then it could well be Prithvi Shaw batting at number three followed by Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, and Agarwal himself at number six. If they go with five bowlers, then the collective experience of pace attack will be three Test matches and 10 balls (Siraj-2, Saini -1, Shardul -10 balls on debut, Natarajan-yet to play). Speaking on Star Sports show Game Plan, Gambhir said England does not have the spinners in their arsenal who can utilize the conditions in India. The right-handed batsman played a stunning knock of 228 in the first Test before coming up with a 186-run knock in the second Test. The former India opener has opined that he doesn’t see England winning any of the four Tests with the kind of spin attack they have. Gambhir, however, believes Root will have a challenging time in India when he will face the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin.“This is going to be a completely different challenge for someone like Joe Root. I’m only going to give a Pink Ball Test match, probably 50-50 to England just from the conditions point of view. The Joe Root-led side thoroughly outplayed the hosts to clean sweep the two-match series. He also backed India to win the series by 3-0 or 3-1 if England manages to do well in the pink-ball Test.“It has to be 3-0 India or probably 3-1. The remainder of the 1950s did not show as good results as the start: India lost a 3-Test series to Australia (2-0), lost a 5-Test series against the West Indies (3-0),

Ahead of the Test series between India and England, former batsman Gautam Gambhir has written off the visitors’ chances of winning even a single game. India's first-ever Test victory came against England at Madras in 1952. On the spinning tracks, their spinners Dom Bess and Jack Leach managed to make a big impression. Gambhir, however, believes that it would be tough for England to challenge the hosts with their current spin attack. Yes, he has played really well in Sri Lanka, but when you have to face people like Jasprit Bumrah on any wicket, or for that matter, Ravichandran Ashwin, when his confidence is sky-high after what he has done in Australia, I am sure it is going to be a completely different beast and a completely different ball game,” said Gautam Gambhir.

The injury-ravaged Indian team was dealt another telling blow on Tuesday as pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the fourth Test against Australia due to an abdominal strain. If that wasn't enough, Mayank Agarwal — tipped to be Hanuma Vihari's replacement in the playing XI in Brisbane — has sustained a knock on the hands and it could be a hairline fracture. To make matters worse, Ravichandran Ashwin's back spasms have aggravated after battling for three hours on the final day, leaving little options for India on the bench. Bumrah, the key to India's attack, sustained the strain during the drawn third Test in Sydney. It has been learned that Bumrah's scan reports showed a strain and the Indian team management does not want him to aggravate the injury, keeping in mind the upcoming four-Test series against England."Jasprit Bumrah suffered an abdominal strain while fielding in Sydney. The much-anticipated Test series is scheduled to get underway on February 5 in Chennai. While India is the firm favorite for the series, England will be also confident after their dominating display in Sri Lanka last month. India's first series against New Zealand in 1956 created a comprehensive series victory for India, winning the 5-Test series 2–0. MH Mankad was excellent in his batting, averaging 105.2 in the series while scoring 526 runs. In 1954, India drew a 5-Test series with Pakistan 0–0, the batting strength from India had come from Polly Umrigar and Vijay Manjrekar while the prime bowler was Subhash Gupte with 21 wickets in the series. Gupte held India's bowling together, with 34 wickets.