The England team for the 1st test has been announced. No surprises, really. This really is the same team that whipped the Windies recently, with two additions – Stuart Broad and James Anderson. One of them may play as Harmison is a doubtful starter. After his five-for against India, Broad would probably get the call up.
- Michael Vaughan
- Andrew Strauss
- Alastair Cook
- Kevin Pietersen
- Paul Collingwood
- Ian Bell
- Matt Prior
- Ryan Sidebottom
- Stephen Harmison
- Monty Panesar
- Matthew Hoggard
- James Anderson
- Stuart Broad.
Opening
England will be looking to open the batting with Strauss and Cook. Although Strauss has been struggling for form recently, Cook has looked solid this season. He is no stranger to Indian bowling either having scored a century on debut in India.
Middle order
The middle order will be made up of Vaughan, Pieterson, Collingwood and Bell. Vaughan started with a century against the West Indies this season, but India should try and target the captain early on in the series. Pieterson had a terrific season against the West Indies, but he struggled against them towards the end. India will be looking at the tapes to see what the Windies did. He is the only player in the England side to average over 50 (Prior has an average of 64 but has only played 4 tests) and is the real danger man for India. Collingwood and Bell complete a very strong batting line-up and although the combination of Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly looks stronger on paper, the England middle order is stronger if we go by recent form alone. Collingwood also scored 2 centuries against the West Indies (the other two Englishmen to do that in the series were Pieterson and Cook). Bell almost made two hundreds with a 108 and a 97 in the series.
Wicketkeeper
Matthew Prior is really an extension of England’s strong middle order having scored a century on debut and following it up with a couple of fifties.
The bowling
If Harmisson doesn’t play, the most likely bowling combination will be Sidebottom, Monty, Hoggard and Broad. Sidebottom took 16 wickets in the recent West Indies series and has looked good. With his swing bowling, Hoggard could pose a lot of questions and Broad performed well against the Indians in the tour game, but the real threat could be Monty Paneeswar who took 23 wickets against the West Indies including 3 five-fors.
-Mahesh-
