England’s decision to recall leg spinner Adil Rashid to the Test team has sparked much controversy. Even the player himself declared himself surprised given he’s played no red-ball cricket at all this summer for either England or Yorkshire.
Former England captains Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain have been hugely critical of the recall and even Yorkshire chief executive Mark Arthur was surprised at the decision. Rashid is on a white-ball only contract with his county but one can see the logic behind including the 30-year-old, and fellow spinner Moeen Ali, against India with the long hot summer likely to provide perfect conditions for spin in the upcoming five matches against the team currently ranked number one in the Test rankings, four places higher than England.
England have not been in great form in the Test arena over the last year as Joe Root looks to establish his captaincy. They were thrashed in Australia and also lost in New Zealand. Defeat by Pakistan at the start of the English summer was another blow to confidence, though they reversed that result just a week later.
You could hardly be confident that Root and his team will beat India over a five-match series at a best 21/20 with 888sport as Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson usually rely on a bit of moisture in the wickets to provide reverse swing but there are plenty yet to be convinced that Virat Kohli and his team are as effective away from what they used to call the sub-continent.
India were beaten 4-0 in England in 2011 and 3-1 in 2014 when also ranked high in the Test rankings. Beaten in two of three Tests in South Africa at the start of the year, the lack of a genuine all-rounder in the India squad could rebound badly on English wickets. Fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah could miss the First Test at Edgbaston and Kohli’s team could find themselves immediately on the back foot if England’s lengthy batting line-up fires.
Root was in excellent form in the ODI victory over India and confidence will be high – he needs only 40 runs to become only the 15th Englishman to pass 6,000 Test runs. India are a best 9/4 with Boylesports to win the series but have only won six of 57 Test matches on English soil compared to their opponents’ 30.
That said, if I was so inclined, I’d be looking to back India at 7/4 in the Draw No Bet Series betting with Boylesports. England are still a work in progress in regard to Test cricket and their performances have been inconsistent as a result. They are desperately searching for successors to the ageing Broad and Anderson and the controversy over team selection won’t be helping. On the other hand, India have concerns over the form of Shikhar Dhawan and Pujara. A 2-2 Series Correct Score at a general 7/1 is not unfeasible.
