‘Redemption’ series to start tomorrow

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India will take on England tomorrow at the Sardar Patel Stadium at Motera in Ahmedabad which will kick off the four test series. The series is widely portrayed as the revenge series for Indian team that had a 0-4 drubbing in England last year. But the series has and means more than revenge for team India as they take the ground tomorrow.

There are many other reasons India looks to achieve in the upcoming series. After the world cup win last year, there has been little to cheer about for the cricket fans in India. It started with the white wash in England and only to be replicated again in Australia later. When they crashed out of the Twenty 20 world cup even before the world cup things went from bad to worse.

The openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have failed to give a good opening stand for the team for long and this series will add pressure and at the same time provide an ideal opportunity for them to redeem themselves.

Yuvraj Singh’s return in to the international cricket was perhaps the lone factor that consoled Indian fans in the otherwise forgettable T20 world cup. This series will be an acid test to the veteran, proven match winner who has looked good in the practice matches leading up to the test match.

Zaheer Khan has successfully led the Indian bowling attack after Javagal Srinath and had a key role in India lifting the world cup last year. It is interesting to also note that his dip in form after the world cup affected Indian team’s bowling performances which has looked ordinary to say the least over post world cup. Zaheer will be crucial with his reverse swings in this test series and Indian team only hopes his return to form.

With Tendulkar hinting his retirement in the near future it will test the calibre of the young batsmen such as Kohli and Pujara against tough opponents.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, even though he has not been in much of spotlight, tasted first big phase of failure as a captain after ODI world cup in an otherwise successful career. Cool as he is and not giving away any emotions on the field, Dhoni will look to give back England in his own inimitable style.

The success in this series will also boost India’s chances of ascend up the ladder of Test rankings and Indian team will look to redeem themselves. After the retirement of Dravid and VVS, India is in a phase of rebuilding itself and there are a lot number reason even without the much hyped tag of ‘revenge’.

The battles within the battle:

Yuvraj Singh and Kevin Petersen:

Rivals on the field and friends off it, Yuvraj Singh and Kevin Petersen’s duel will be one interesting piece to look out for. Having already dismissed Petersen once in one of the practice games and his bowling getting better over the games, Yuvraj will look to stop Petersen who has just got in to the England team after the text message controversy and a lot of peace talks with captain coach and other officials.

James Anderson vs Sachin Tendulkar:

Sachin Tendulkar never misses out be part of the talks of opponent team’s planning and it is no different this time either. Anderson has already kicked off mind games by making a comment of “Don’t treat Sachin with too much respect” and intends to get un popular with the Indian crowd by troubling the home batsmen. Sachin has always received these challenges in silence only to answer then on the field and it will be interesting to see his answer on the field as the battle begins tomorrow.

Broad vs Yuvraj:

Yuvraj Singh gave Stuart Broad an unforgettable inaugural T20 world cup in 2007 but things have changed much since then. If Stuart Broad is cleared of any injury and is playing in the first test then it will lead up to an interesting duel with Yuvraj Singh. Stuart Broad, currently England’s captain in the game’s shortest format will test Yuvraj in Test as the latter has just returned to test cricket after a long gap. If Yuvraj plays in his usual style, Indian batting will have few worries in the lower middle order.

Swann vs Kohli:

Graeme Swann will be England’s trump card in the first match. Virat kohli has been the defining figure of Indian batting in the recent past and it will be interesting fight between this young player in the form of his life take on an intelligent spinner as Swann. The success of their will have huge impact on their respective teams.

Alaister Cook vs MS Dhoni(Clash of the Captains):

Cook will be leading the England as full-fledged Test captain for the first time and it could not have been more challenging platform than this tour. Having struggled against the Pakistani spinners earlier that eventually cost them the top position in rankings, it will be a challenge for the new captain to lead the team with having not won a series in the past 28 years in India.

Dhoni will be looking to start fresh and get back to his winning ways. His captaining had come under lot of hammering off late but he is one captain who has managed to pull off something out of thin air and the stage this time is set just ideal to do what he does best: win.

Ashwin vs Jonathan Trott:

Ashwin took over the baton from Harbhajan Singh in leading the spin bowling department and has done well so far. Jonathan Trott has been a very consistent player for England in recent past and they will bank on him if the new opening pair fails to give a good start. It will be a test of temperament for Trott against a very clever Ashwin who is a dangerous customer in Indian conditions.