No need for new era as England go to India with cause for optimism

In less than two days time England embark on the next stage of their quest to win a Test series in Asia, led by a new captain in Alastair Cook, but otherwise with largely the same personnel that went to the UAE and Sri Lanka last winter. Expectations are low, but on the face of it there should be little reason to believe that England cannot win a first series in India since 1985.

In some quarters the tour has been described as the beginning of a new era for English cricket, but in reality the switch in leadership was all about continuity rather than change. Cook has been groomed for captaincy since he first stepped into an England dressing room seven years ago, has been one-day international captain for eighteen months, and this is not even the first Test tour to the sub-continent that he’s led - he stood in for Andrew Strauss in Bangladesh, and by all accounts did an excellent job. Therefore, a change in team ethos is highly unlikely and rightly so: under Strauss England became a highly professional and effective outfit, guided by a world leading team of support staff. Expect Cook’s first target to be to ensure that this is replicated under his command.

The make up of the team will also have a familiar look to it when it is named after the toss in Ahmedabad on Thursday. The enforced replacement of Strauss with Nick Compton, and the inclusion of Stuart Broad (who was injured last spring) in place of the now crocked Steven Finn are likely to be the only two changes from the 2^nd Test in Sri Lanka, a match which England won. That reflects the fact that despite an unconvincing twelve months, there can be little dispute over who England’s best players are. The batting unit may have failed in the sub-continent last winter, but to my mind Cook, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and, yes, Kevin Pietersen are world class batsmen, each of whom has shown ability to play spin in the past. Cook and Trott have had success in Asia before, Pietersen has smashed Warne and Murali to all parts, and Bell has scored runs in matches played on turning pitches, albeit rarely in Asia. Matt Prior is undoubtedly the best ‘keeper-batsman in the world game. Meanwhile, a disappointing effort against South Africa aside, James Anderson and Stuart Broad have formed an incisive new ball partnership in recent years.  Tim Bresnan lost form this summer, but all the evidence from the tour games suggests he’s back in the sort of rhythm which has provided him with success against India in the past.

Nevertheless, we should not kid ourselves that this will be easy. Few teams have won Test series in India within the last decade, and all batsmen that have faced Ravichandran Ashwin in Asia have struggled thus far. It is likely that he’ll take the new ball, ensuring that England’s batsmen are put under pressure from ball one, and unable to take advantage of getting set against the seamers, as is their preference. Pragyan Ojha is also a better left-arm spinner than he’s often given credit for. These are not spinners that England can expect to bully, as they did to Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra in England. But it is surely not asking too much to expect top class international players, as so many of the England line-up are, to play sensibly and effectively against slow bowling.

The Indian batting line-up will present England with both hope and fear. It is hard to argue that this top seven is any stronger than the group which failed to top 300 more than once against these same England bowlers a short time ago, and Anderson, Broad and Bresnan will feel they have a mental edge over Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh. Gambhir, in particular, would appear to have major technical issues against the moving ball - an issue for an opening batsman. However, India’s line-up like their home comforts, and Virat Kohli is in as good a form as Amla was when England came across him in the summer. Unsurprisingly India play spin particularly well, potentially negating the effectiveness of Graeme Swann and Samit Patel.

So to the question of what England need to do differently from their sub-standard efforts over the last twelve months. Firstly, they need to take their catches - near perfect fielding was a hallmark of the team in 2010 and 2011, but that seemed to slip last year. Secondly, they must make sure they don’t panic against spin - there is no reason why any of the batsmen ought to be technically incapable of playing slow bowling so a better mental approach should do the trick. Finally, with the ball they need to finish teams off: crucial lower order runs stopped them getting away with some shaky batting efforts last year. Do all three of these things well and a series win is well within England’s reach.

Overall, England should not be daunted by this series. They are playing an opponent that suffered a 4-0 reversal at their hands last time round, and it is difficult to see how India are a better team than they were then. Dealing with the Indian spinners is a tough task for any batsman, but there is no reason why England’s line-up should not be up to the challenge technically. Therefore, if Alastair Cook’s team are able to win the mental war and replicate the professionalism demonstrated in 2010 and 2011, they stand a good chance of confounding the predictions and defending the Pataudi Trophy. It won’t be easy but its certainly not impossible.