Legendary spinner Anil Kumble has termed England's bowling line-up for the opening Test against India as "highly inexperienced" while also predicting a 4-1 series win for the hosts in the five-match series.
On the eve of the first Test, which got underway in Hyderabad on January 25, the Three Lions unveiled their playing XI, which included three spinners and just one pacer.
Among the three tweakers, Jack Leach has the experience of 34 Tests while Lancashire's Tom Hartley is making his debut in Hyderabad. On the other hand, Rehan Ahmed has only one Test cap to his name.
Mark Wood is the only fast bowler named in the visitors’ playing XI for the series opener against India.
"It will all depend on how Jack Leach leads the spin attack. Three spinners, of course the English management obviously have had a look at the pitch and they believe that it's going to take turn," Kumble replied to a PTI query during an interaction organised by Jio Cinema.
"In that sense, just with one fast bowler in that lineup, it'll be interesting to see how they go about because I certainly thought that once Harry Brook was unavailable, they had the choice to go with Jonny Bairstow as the keeper and then bring in another fast bowler.
"They brought in Ben Foakes, which means that he will keep with just that one fast bowler. We don't know how much of bowling Ben Stokes is going to do, it'll be interesting to see how they go about but (it is a) highly inexperienced bowling lineup," he added.
Kumble expects the likes of Hartley and Ahmed to face a challenging time during the red-ball series.
"It's going to be a massive challenge for those young spinners, especially Rehan and Hartley to build pressure on this wonderful Indian batting lineup."
Sharing his prediction for the series, Kumble said: "I'm not a guy with a crystal ball but I can certainly see India winning the series. I am thinking all five (Tests) would provide results because of the approach that these two teams have towards Test cricket."
"Unless and until weather intervenes, all five Test matches would have results. I would give one to England and four to India," he further stated.
England’s playing XI for Hyderabad Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Jack Leach
India’s playing XI for Hyderabad Test: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
(With PTI Inputs)
