IND vs ENG: 1st Test Preview – The biggest test of Bazball

England have arrived on Indian shores eager to unleash their Bazball ploy on the strongest Test side as they look to end India’s 11-year home dominance. The Three Lions have been a different beast under the leadership of Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum as they have lost just four matches since the duo came at the helm and are yet to lose a series.

On the other hand, India have been the most successful side at home over the past 11 years as they have won 16 consecutive series and lost just three matches since 2013. Notably, England were the last team to beat India at home as they won by a margin of 2-1 in 2012 under the leadership of Ben Stokes.

In the matches played in India, the Asian Giants have won 22 matches out of the 64 played while England have 14 victories to their name. Hence, England have been competitive in India having won five-Test series while India have won eight with three series ending in a draw.

The upcoming series is expected to be another mouth-watering clash as the two of the best Test sides currently will collide to put up a great advertisement for the oldest format.

India’s Probable Playing XI

Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

England’s Playing XI

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Jack Leach.

Pitch Report

There have been a total of five Tests played at the venue out of which two each have been won by teams batting and bowling first. The average first-innings score at the venue is 404 while the highest target chased in fourth innings is 75. Captain winning the toss will look to bat first given how historically pitches become tougher to bat in the fourth innings in Asia.