The Big Test: Preview

'The Big Test' the title might be kept by keeping India in mind but it is the big test of bpth the teams. Its a 5-match test series in which each team have a great chance to fight back & win it. Now if we go by India's condition in 2011 in England then I don't think there will be any difference this time around. It has been that kind of story since last few years that whenever India's tour is announced out of sub-continent, the pictures of whitewash comes first in mind.

It is the past now & India is in England again & this time its is even more important for India to beat England as England has won the test series even in India after 2011 whitewash. Now take a look at the teams. Let's start with the English side, Team England is not as strong as it was in 2011 as they are going to miss the likes of Pietersen, Swann & Trott but they are playing at home so they always going to have home advantage. Anderson & Broad will be swinging the ball both ways, Bell, Prior & Plunkett will use their experience well, Robson has hit a 100 for Leicestershire against India in a warm-up match so he will bring in that confidence & Root, Balnace & Moeen Ali are quite wary of their home conditions so they will be using that home advantage.

The only worry for England is the form of their captain Alistair Cook. He has been out of form for quite some time now. Due to his form his place in side & his captaincy is under the sword. So it is very important for him to win this test series to prove all of his critics wrong. On the other side India has great opportunity to bounce on Cook's bad form & capitalise it on other fairly new batsmen of the team. So the bowling of England is strong as ever but its batting has some loop holes on which India has to capitalise & strategise well to get them out quickly.

Now let's see the Indian side. Team which won the test series in 2007 had Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman & Zaheer & this team India has successor of Dravid in form of Pujara, successor of Sachin in form of Kohli, successor of Laxman in form of Rohit Sharma but unfortunately India hasn't found the successor of Zaheer yet & he is not fit to play. Moreover India has experience of Gambhir & Dhoni along with two young openers. So the talent is immense in this Indian side but they lack experience.

Now as far as Indian bowling is concerned then Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has increased his pace under Dale Steyn in IPL 7 & can swing the ball both ways, Shami is mastering the art of reverse swing, Ishant Sharma is still that bowler who is very good at times & totally dudat times, Pankaj Singh & Ishwar Pandey have been very good at domestic circuit & Ashwin, very good on Indian conditions but not that effective out of sub continent. I think Dhoni should go with Bhuvi, Shami & Pankaj Singh as Pankaj Singh is a work horse & will be much more effective than Ishant's unpredictable spells. Ashwin will surely going to be in but the onus is on the 5th bowling option will it be Jadeja? or the half centurion against Derbyshire Binny? Whoever gets selected among these two has to bat well along with taking wickets. Overall India's bowling order is as new as England's batting line-up.

India's batting will be the key as it will be quite interesting to see that whether Dhoni includes Gambhir or not, if he does then at which no. Dhoni will play Gambhir. I think Dhoni should include Gambhir in the eleven & should allow him to open the innings as in the absence of all the legends he is the only senior player available. Moreover he has made runs in warm-up matches as well. Middle order is rock solid with Pujara, Kohli & Dhoni himself. When it comes to test cricket Pujara means business & Kohli is next big thing in Indian cricket so both of them will give their best shot. Moreover I am confident of Dhoni the batsman more than the Dhoni the captain. This is the great opportunity for team India to beat England at home. I think we are up for one of the most fascinating contest in cricket over the next 42 days.