As the Indian cricket team gears up for the rescheduled fifth Test, starting on July 1 at Edgbaston, Birmingham, former Indian pacer Ajit Agarkar is upbeat about the touring side’s chances to win the match and take the Test series with a 3-1 margin.
Many people believe that Team India will have an uphill task to win the fifth and final Test against England, as they are now a much stronger and in-form team after thrashing New Zealand 3-0 recently in the Test series at home.
Under Ben Stokes’ captaincy and the guidance of new coach Brendon McCullum, England is looking dangerous, having shown a great attacking brand of cricket against New Zealand.
However, Agarkar believes that India has a better pace attack than New Zealand for the rescheduled Test, so they will have an upper hand against England. He also denied that India needs to try and match England's aggressive style, saying the visitors are good enough to outclass the home side.
Ajit Agarkar said in a media meet organized by Sony Sports Network: “I do not know, why would India try and match with the way England are playing, England were 55/6 in the first innings against New Zealand and then they had a couple of good innings. India will play the way they know how to play, you don't have to necessarily match someone, at the end of the day you want to play better than the other team.”
He further added, “India, at the moment are 2-1 up in the series so the pressure is on England to try and level the series. I do not necessarily think that India will try and match England, they will play their own way. If they play well enough, they are good enough to beat England.”
On being asked whether England will find it tough to go after Indian bowlers, Agarkar said: “Look, they are terrific players (Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes). Stokes is a world-class all-rounder, and Bairstow has found some form in the last couple of Tests. But Joe Root is still their main batter. If India can dismiss Root early, but there is no doubt if you compare New Zealand with India's attack, India has probably more to their attack and it would not be that easy to take them down.”
The former pacer added, “Especially with the situations England were in most Tests, earlier on if India can put themselves in that situation, getting early wickets, it will be a little harder to take down India like they did with New Zealand. England has had three Tests so they are bit more battle-hardened but India has some serious quality in their attack so it would not be easy for England.”
Agarkar also suggested that Cheteshwar Pujara or Hanuma Vihari should open in place of Rohit Sharma if he fails to recover in time for the final Test.
He signed off by saying, “I know KS Bharat got some runs in the warm-up game. The team management will have a look at how prepared Mayank Agarwal is once he joins the team. I do not know if he has enough time to prepare for the Test, especially the one-off Test, I believe experience might help, if it is Pujara or Vihari. Vihari has already opened for India a couple of times. One of those two would be my picks, it is better to go with a little more experience because it is a one-off Test.”
(With NDTV Inputs)
