"We're going to have to play right at the top of our game to win out there but we couldn't be in a better place to challenge them," said Joe Root after whitewashing Sri Lanka 2-0 on their home ground recently. England are back after almost a one-sided Test series against SL and with their captain Joe Root in the form of his life, things look pleasing for the visiting side. India are also back from a confidence boosting and historic series in Australia. Thus, the two teams battling it out in the upcoming Test series would be a treat to watch for the fans. But, will it be an easy outing for India. Records and the recent past suggest otherwise, here’s a look back.
Let’s first look at England’s recent record in the rest of the subcontinent. The Brits have won both their past series in Sri Lanka by 2-0 and before that they drew one series 1-1 in 2012, which means, they have won six games in a row Sri Lanka. Even in Bangladesh, the series in 2016 ended in a 1-1 draw and you have to consider that Bangladesh are a real threat at their home-ground. Thus, it’s clear that England perform well in the subcontinent. Many experts credit this success to the fact that many English players play a lot of cricket in the IPL. Now let’s take a look at their recent record against India.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🏴 Series victory for <a >@englandcricket</a>!<br><br>👏 England win the second and final Test by six wickets to win the series 2-0 after some superb individual displays.<a >#SLvENG</a> <a >pic.twitter.com/Tq5dQhBJlM</a></p>— PCA (@PCA) <a >January 25, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In 2012-13, England won the Test series 2-1. This was a high point in England’s Test cricket recently. This was a series which was being played in the backdrop of a 4-0 whitewash that India faced in England. But, Kevin Pietersen stole the show in that series by taking the attack to the Indian bowler. The victory of 2012-13 was big for England. Because beating India at home is a humongous task. India had previously lost a series at home in 2004 against Australia. After 2013, India played 12 Test series and have won each one of them.
But What About The 2016-17 Series?
India had won a five match Test series by 4-0 that year. On paper, it looks like an extremely clinical performance by the Indian side, but in reality India had to struggle for their victories in the series. The first Test match, in-fact was a struggling draw for India as England had scored a total in excess of 500 in the first innings. India bounced back to win the rest of the matches, but not very convincingly.
R Ashwin had also reiterated the same fact. In an interview to the New Indian Express, he said: “I think the England series is going to be good. They are coming with an amazing preparation in Sri Lanka where the wicket has spun over the last two Tests. Joe Root has been batting beautifully. When we beat them 4-0 last time, they played amazingly but results did not go in their favor. We were just too good on a lot of occasions. England are one of the teams who come well-prepared for a Test series. They have got good spinners and good quicks who can reverse the ball. They have got good batting order. What else can you ask for? A hard-fought Test series is surely on the card.”
It was the same series when Karun Nair had scored a triple hundred. England’s batting that series looked stable as they scored more than 250 runs six times in the series. But their bowling was an area of concern.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Historic moment; Third test match and Karun Nair scored 300 against team England, well done young boy, keep it up. <a >pic.twitter.com/3ueBezurVL</a></p>— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) <a >December 19, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
But this time in 2021, things have changed. England are the World Champions. They have fast bowlers like Anderson, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes plus this time they have two spinners in the form of Jack Leach and Dom Bess who rattled the Sri Lankan batsmen.
All these facts suggest that it is not going to be a hunky-dory kind of a series for India. But Virat Kohli’s men would be up for this English challenge.