England was the last team to beat India in India when they won in 2012-13 and now as the two teams are engaged in the first Test of the four-match series in Chennai, former India captain Sachin Tendulkar opined on the contest and revealed who he thinks will come out victors.
Joe Root’s England is coming off a 2-0 Test series sweep over Sri Lanka and Tendulkar said, “I think both teams have come after winning their last series so it is going to be a series of two confident sides looking to take on each other. But if you look at the combination, I would like to believe that India's combination looks stronger than England's and it will be a closely fought contest, but I see India coming out as the victorious team.”
The first two Tests of the series will be played in Chennai on Feb 5 and Feb 13, while Ahmedabad will host the next two Tests, a day-night affair on Feb 24 and the last match on Mar 4. Ahmedabad will also host five T20Is and Pune will host the 3 ODI matches on the tour.
Tendulkar further opined that the first Test in Chennai will be crucial, as it sets the momentum in the whole series.
"So the first Test is going to be critical, because in a series like this if you're on top in the first Test itself, then that puts a lot of pressure on the touring side. And here what is going to happen is in the second Test match they would know what to expect from this surface because the second Test match will also be played here,” Tendulkar said.
He added, “Here sometimes it's the other way around, like when it is hot, how to hydrate yourself and all those kinds of things come into play. And as the time goes by, the teams start figuring out what to do.”
Furthermore, Sachin Tendulkar lavished praise on India’s bench strength, especially in the fast bowling department. This comes after the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, and Shardul Thakur rose to the occasion in the Australia Test series after India lost Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, and Umesh Yadav during the course of the tour.
"That's a great position to be in for India because, despite so many injuries, there were back-up bowlers and if back-up bowlers are going to perform well and deliver like this and play crucial roles, it is a terrific sign for us.
It only makes one feel so good because none of these guys, like Shardul (Thakur) did not have much experience of Test cricket, Siraj did not have, neither did Natarajan. But they stuck to their plans and executed them well. So it is a good sign for Indian cricket that our bench strength is also so strong that we can go out and compete against one of the top sides in the world and come out as a winner. So I am really happy about this bench strength, it is magnificent for our country," Tendulkar signed off.
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He also pointed out a coincidence, that in 2008, England had come back to play the Test series, after the Mumbai terror attack, and the first Test was played in Chennai, which India won by chasing down 387 runs with Sachin Tendulkar scoring 103* in the 4th innings, while Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag made fifties.
Tendulkar said that this time as well in 2021, England is coming off a break (the Coronavirus pandemic) and will be playing Tests.
He added, “We are actually playing after a little over 12 years - the same team at the same venue after the pandemic. That time also it was a delicate situation and India was playing England, so that's the coincidence. In 2008, the England team had agreed to come back and it was very very gracious of them. The only hope (since) the coincidence is there hopefully the result also would be the same.”
(Times of India inputs)
