Former India captain Rahul Dravid, the last Indian cricket team skipper to win a Test series in England (in 2007), feels this is team India's ‘best chance’ to beat England on their own soil since 2007. The National Cricket Academy predicted that the upcoming Test series between India and England will end in a 3-2 win for India.
After playing the final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand, Indian cricket team is scheduled to play a five-match Test series against England, starting from August 4.
“I really do think India have a very good chance this time,” Dravid said during a webinar, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
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“There’s no question about England’d bowling. Whatever bowling attack England put on the park, especially their seam-bowling attack, is going to be fantastic. They have a lot of players to pick and choose from and that's going to be terrific. But if you look at their top six or top seven, you really think of one great batsman, a world-class batsman who is Joe Root,” he added.
When the Indian cricket team toured England in the year 2018, they had to face a 4-1 defeat in the five-match Test series. Run-machine Virat Kohli was in great batting form at that time as he scored 593 runs in 5 matches with an average of 59.30. However, despite Virat's heroics, he could not power India to a series win.
Dravid predicted that the rivalry between Ben Stokes and senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin could possibly be an ‘interesting subplot’ in the upcoming summer’s away Test series.
“Obviously, Ben Stokes is another one, who is a good all-rounder, but for some reason, Ashwin seems to do well against him. And that should be an interesting contest. I know he's done well against him (Stokes) in India, but it'll still be an interesting subplot to the series,” Dravid said.
“But I just think India will be well-prepared, have the confidence from Australia, there’s a lot of belief in the squad. A couple of players have been to England a few times, there's a lot of experience in the batting order this time around, so this is probably our best chance, maybe say 3-2 to India,” he added.