Team India Prepare A Cocktail Attack Of Pacers & Spinners Ahead Of Tests Against England

The big dilemma for Team India captain Virat Kohli ahead of the upcoming five-Test series in England is whether to attack the hosts with pace or kill them softly with spin.

With England experiencing an unusually hot and dry summer and the pitches looking brown and bare, the ball has not swung much all season, prompting experts to wonder whether there could be a spin in the tale.

In the age of social media, expert opinions are a dime a dozen, and Kohli will hardly be bothered by it. For someone who has already led India in 35 Tests, and won 21 - including eight on foreign soil - Kohli knows better than most the strengths and weaknesses of his side.

afp

The Indian captain will be pleased with the fact that his 18-member squad has at least three top-of the- line pacers in Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami, two world-class spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and chinaman exponent Kuldeep Yadav, who brings an X-factor to the table.

If the Test pitches on offer indeed turn out to be shorn of green, yield turn and variable bounce, Kohli will hardly hesitate to throw the ball to his two best spinners -Ashwin and Jadeja - who are lethal when they hunt in pair.

The duo has been virtually unplayable on sub-continent pitches and there is no reason why they won't be as effective if the conditions in England mirror those back home.

afp

It is not for nothing that Jadeja and Ashwin are ranked No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, in the world. Kuldeep, on the other hand, has improved by leaps and bounds since bamboozling the Aussies on his debut in Dharamshala last year.

The Indian team management may be tempted to throw Kuldeep into the mix, especially if conditions are favourable, but playing three spinners would adversely affect the balance of the attack as well as the team. Moreover, one of them usually gets under-bowled, no matter how well a captain juggles with three spinners.

Since India's last tour of England in 2014, they have opted for a three-pronged spin attack in only nine home Tests on tailor-made surfaces and once at the spin-friendly Galle. Interestingly, Kohli & Co. had decimated England 4-0 at home in 2016, using three spinners in all five Tests.

England batsmen's travails against the turning ball are well documented - much like the vulnerability of their Indian counterparts against swing bowling. Rather than worry over pace or spin, Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri will have to first get the balance of the side right.

afp

The key to achieving that is firming up the number of specialist batsmen they want in the playing XI - five or six (excluding first-choice wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik).

Playing five batsmen and Karthik will allow Kohli to field five bowlers and opt for a three-two combination -pacers or spinners - depending on the ground realities. Kohli is a great advocator of playing five specialist bowlers.

In the 35 Tests he has been at the helm, Kohli has gone in with five bowlers in 23 matches. More importantly, barring the rained-ruined final Test in Port of Spain in 2016, Kohli has always played five full-time bowlers overseas.

If Kohli goes with two spinners, it's hard to see Kuldeep getting the nod ahead of Ashwin and Jadeja. In spite of his none-too-impressive record outside the sub-continent, off-spinner Ashwin is undoubtedly the country's leading spinner, and Jadeja isn't far behind.

Moreover, both are handy with the bat and the team will need their batting prowess down the order to balance the equation. Kohli may use Kuldeep for his shock value in course of the series to maximise the effect.

afp

However, given the fragile nature of the middle-order, Kohli may well want the cushion of an extra batsman. India may then have to opt for a split attack, comprising two pacers and two spinners, or three pacers and one spinner.

Fielding three pacers would almost certainly guarantee Hardik Pandya a spot, leaving Ishant, Umesh and Shami to vie for the remaining two places.

On India's last tour of England, skipper MS Dhoni had picked Jadeja ahead of Ashwin as the lone spinner in the first three Tests, primarily because of the left-armer's ability to choke the flow of runs from one end. Jadeja's brilliance in the field can also work to his advantage.