Even though hosts England completely outplayed India to register a series-leveling win in the third Test at Leeds, former England skipper Nasser Hussain has warned Joe Root and Co. to not write off this Indian team.
In his latest column for The Telegraph, Hussain cited the example of the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy where the subcontinental giants were bowled out for 36 runs in the first Test in Adelaide but then went on to win their second consecutive Test series on Australian soil.
“At Headingley, England swung the ball around corners. Skillful as India's seam bowlers are they did not swing the ball at all. But the last thing England must do now thinks they have done the hard work and write India off ahead of Thursday's fourth Test in south London and the final match at Old Trafford grounds which should suit their attack better,” the Englishman wrote.
“Remember, they were bowled out for 36 by Australia in Adelaide late last year but came back to pull off a famous series win. And after Kohli had gone home, too,” Hussain further wrote.
ENG v IND 2021: Nasser Hussain says things are not going to get easy for Virat Kohli
The 53-year-old then pointed out that even though skipper Kohli is not in the best of form, the current Indian team has the strength to come back into the series which is evident from their tour of Australia earlier this year.
“India does have a lot of strength of character and fight, and central to that is their captain, even though Kohli has looked more like the 2014 version rather than the one who conquered English conditions and England's attack in 2018,” the cricketer-turned-commentator further wrote.
While India won a historic match at Lord’s to go 1-0 up in this series, England, on the other hand, outplayed the tourists in all departments and won the Leeds Test by an innings and 76 runs to level the series 1-1.
Thus, it will be exciting to see how both teams perform in the fourth Test scheduled to be played at Kennington Oval in London from September 2.
(With The Telegraph Inputs)
