Former skipper Sourav Ganguly has issued a warning to the Indian Test team ahead of the tour of England, slated to begin on June 20.
India will face the Ben Stokes-led side in a five-match Test series, which will mark the beginning of the 2025/27 World Test Championship cycle.
Ganguly wants the likes of Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill to lift their game in the marquee tour, during which India will look to secure their first Test series win on English soil since 2007.
Speaking during Trailblazers 3.0, by RevSportz, Ganguly expressed concerns as he pointed out that none other than Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal average more than 40 away from home.
According to Ganguly, India need at least four of their top six batters to average more than 50 in Test cricket if they want to gain ground in the longest format again.
"[Rishabh] Pant has got to bite the bullet and play the swinging ball. You can not keep swinging all the time and expect to score runs in Test cricket. It is a mentality, determination, and grit," Ganguly said.
"They have the talent—Virat Kohli, the best in the business. I do not see him failing in five Test matches in England. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill—they need to step up. My only worry is that, other than Virat and Yashasvi, not many average more than 40 away from home. If you want to be a good Test team, three or four of your top six batters must be averaging close to 50 in Test matches," he added.
Ganguly highlighted the importance of piling up big runs to succeed in England. He justified his statement by mentioning India’s only win the in the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at Perth.
"It is possible to transform our red-ball fortunes in England. You have to bat well. You look at the times India played their best away from home—it is when they put 400-500 runs on the board. You speak about our generation, when we won in England, we were one-all in Australia against the best-ever cricket team in the world, we went to Pakistan and won there—all because we were scoring 600 runs," Ganguly stated.
"Those three Tests in Pakistan (2004)—Multan, we got 600; Lahore, we got 400; Rawalpindi, we got 700. Going to Australia, 500 in Brisbane, 500 in Adelaide, 700 in Sydney. You have to get runs on the board to win Test matches. You do not win Tests by scoring 200, 250, or 180. The reason they won in Perth was because they got 400 on the board. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who I think is the best Test batsman at the moment for India, played a crucial role," he remarked.
