England vs India 2014: 1st Test - Preview

The Indian team warming up before the 1st Test in Nottingham

The 5-match Test series between England and India is going to be a mouthwatering contest, with both sides pretty evenly matched. The 1st Test is starting at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, in a couple of days time, and both sides will be eager to get off to a good start. In a long Test series like this one, a loss in the 1st Test might not be the be-all-and-end-all with the losing side having ample opportunity to bounce back, but with both sides under pressure to perform, a good start with a win in the 1st Test is vitally important.

The Preview

England, despite losing the Test series against Sri Lanka, they have reason to be upbeat considering that it was the younger players like Moeen Ali, Sam Robson, Gary Balance etc. who stood out against the Sri Lankans. The new entrants have shown that there is enough young talent in English cricket, and it’s the senior players who have not been pulling their weight in the team.

England captain Alastair Cook is under huge pressure

Alastair Cook, the England captain, is under massive pressure to produce positive results from all sections of the English public. While his tactics as captain have been lousy, his batting in the last 12 months has also tapered off to a large extent. It is at a time like this when he needs the established figures like Ian Bell, James Anderson and Stuart Broad to support him by putting in match-winning performances for the team.

India, on the other hand, have to considerably improve their overseas performances if they are to pose a challenge to England in these conditions. It’s been more than 3 years since India registered an overseas victory in Tests, a sign of their ineptitude while travelling overseas. The last time that India were in England, they got hammered 4-0 and provided no fight whatsoever in any of the matches. The batsmen surprisingly underperformed while the bowling, as usual, lacked bite. While the players in the current Test squad are largely different to the ones that toured last time, it would do the team no harm if they could analyze what went wrong last time and look to learn from those mistakes.

Form guide

The recent form of both sides has been patchy, to say the least. While England’s recent loss to Sri Lanka was preceded by their 5-0 Ashes debacle in Australia last winter, India have only done marginally better with the results of their last 4 Tests being 2 losses and 2 draws.

Team composition

England

Ben Stokes has been added to the 12-man England squad picked for the Sri Lanka Test series for the series against India. Stokes has been in sparkling form of late for his county Durham and, in all probability, will be included in the playing XI in place of Chris Jordan.

Playing XI (probable) - Alastair Cook (C), Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Matt Prior (wk), Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, Liam Plunkett, James Anderson.

India

With India having chosen an 18-man squad for the Test series, there is certainly not a shortage of options for India to choose from. The names of 10 of the 11 members for the 1st Test, though, are pretty much obvious, with the choice of the 11th member being between Rohit Sharma and Stuart Binny. The choice between Rohit and Binny depends on whether the team management is content with just 4 bowlers or want Binny as the part-time 5th bowler.

Playing XI (probable) - Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (C & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami

Pitch and weather conditions

Steve Birks, the pitch curator for the 1st Test match at Trent Bridge, has indicated that the pitch for the 1st Test will be a good one for batting, and that it will not be the pitch’s fault if either team gets bowled out cheaply. At the same time, there should also be good carry in the surface which means that the bowlers can thrive if they utilize the extra bounce to their advantage.

“The grass is dry, and we have been pushing it in every day,” Birks said. “We have been watering around the edges. We don't want teams bowled out for 180.”

“We are trying to get a bit of carry. If we get carry we are happy. There should be good carry. Four days to go, it is hard. Really hard,” he added.

The weather forecast for the 5 days of the Test match is a bit gloomy, with overcast clouds and light shower predicted for the entire duration of the Test.