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Former England skipper Nasser Hussain said that the Team India is favourites for the five-match Test series against England, but one should not write off the Three Lions' 'Bazball' approach, which has delivered them fine results in Test cricket recently under the leadership of skipper Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
The highly-anticipated five-match series between these two rivals will start on January 25 in Hyderabad and will conclude on March 11 with the final Test in Dharamshala. India has won 16 successive Test series at home since 2012 when England defeated the Asian giants at home after 28 years, with the spin duo of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar gathering headlines for their fine performances. Now, the series is being billed as a battle between India's home domination and England's attacking and positive 'Bazball' approach, which has posed a threat to the dominance of many teams, even in their home conditions. "India are the favourites, but every single challenge Bazball has faced they have stuck to their guns and Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum's record is seriously good, I would not write them off," said Sky Sports' Hussain. "Bazball has been very successful, especially at home and the two toughest places to tour are India or Australia. It is going to be a massive challenge for England." "India wants to see how this new approach will work at home. It will be fascinating cricket and will be interesting to see how this particular side will go against what is one of the great cricketing outfits at the moment, which is the India side," concluded Nasser. The pitches in India will be turning and spin-friendly, a challenge that 'Bazball' has not faced yet. Former England cricketer Michael Atherton said that spin will play a big part in India but their seam attack is strong as well. He also pointed out how India has a lot of variety and experience in their spin attack in comparison to that of England, in which left-armer Jack Leach will team-up with debutants Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir and teenage spinner Rehan Ahmed. "If you go to India, spin will play a big part, it historically has done and I suspect it always will do. India does have a very strong seam attack as well," said Sky Sports' Michael Atherton. "India's four spinners are very different to England's. They have two left-arm finger spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. They have a wrist spinner in Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the greatest spinners of all time." "England have a solid left-arm spinner in Jack Leach and then three very inexperienced spinners after that with Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed. It will be a particular challenge for them but the selectors see a high ceiling for them," concluded Atherton. Hussain lauded Stokes for his captaincy during a 3-0 whitewash against Pakistan in Pakistan, saying that he waited for the reverse swing to bring himself into the action and when the wicket turned, he left it to the spinners to do the damage. Stokes has been named in the squad but will only play as a specialist batter as he continues to recover after knee surgery. Ben Foakes, who did not feature in England's home Ashes campaign last year has earned a recall. Jonny Bairstow is the another wicketkeeping option in the squad ahead of Foakes. India also has three wicketkeepers in KL Rahul, KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel. "Bairstow got better with the bat and gloves as the Ashes went on. He admitted he was undercooked after that serious injury and the balance of the side with Stokes not bowling is going to be even more challenging," said Hussain. "Bairstow is probably the one they will look to unless it is spinning big in which case England will want Foakes because he is an incredible gloveman," he concluded. Atherton added: "I think India will win. Their spinners are better than England's and that will be the defining thing in the end." England Test squad: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root and Mark Wood. Indian Squad for the first two Tests against England: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan. (ANI)
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