'India Will Win' - Former ENG Captain Expects Rohit Sharma & Co. To Dominate England
Rohit Sharma will be leading India (X.com)
Former England captain Michael Atherton wholeheartedly backed India to extend its 12-year unbeaten home series run against England in the upcoming five-game Test series, as he feels the quality of the spin attack will play a decisive role.
England is set to tour India for a five-game Test series starting from 25th January in Hyderabad. Remarkably, India is yet to lose a home series since 2012. They won 16 successive games, which included 4-0 and 3-1 wins over the Englishmen.
Meanwhile, the cricket fraternity is a buzz ahead of the high-stakes Test series between the two giant Test-playing nations. Former England captain and commentator Michael Atherton weighed his thoughts and unsurprisingly picked India as the favorite.
While speaking to Sky Sports, Atherton doubled down on India’s winning odds. He believes the hosts’ spin attack will play a key role in ensuring a successful campaign.
Atherton firmly believes that India will win the impending Test series against England solely because of the quality of its spin attack. The former cricketer says that spin has historically played a big role in Indian conditions, and the upcoming series won’t be any different.
"I think India will win. Their spinners are better than England’s, and that will be the defining thing in the end. If you go to India, spin will play a big part. It historically has done, and I suspect it always will do. India do have a very strong seam attack as well," said Atherton.
He expects the spinners to dominate throughout the series, and since the quality of spin is better in the Indian dressing room, they are favorites to outclass the visitors.
India will enter the series with as many as four specialist spinners in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja. Ashwin and Axar, in particular, have dominated the English side in the past when they clipped 32 and 27 wickets, respectively, during the 2020-21 series.
On the other hand, England will take the field with only one experienced spinner, Jack Leach. Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, and Rehan Ahmed are relatively much younger and not well versed with the sub-continent conditions. Thus, the visitors will undoubtedly face a steep challenge against the dominant Indian side.
 "Akshita Patel")
