India start Test as favourites

Notwithstanding a slight alteration in the star-cast and the usual hiccup in finding the right opening combination, India begin the four-match Test series against England, starting at Lord's on Thursday, as firm favourites.

There will be no Mohammad Kaif or Yuvraj Singh, the new heroes of Indian cricket team, but the dream run in the NatWest Trophy Tri-Series, which culminated in the sensational victory in the final, coupled with injuries to some key England players has stacked the odds in favour of India.

With the team finally performing like a unit, and every player contributing to the cause, the Indians seem set to end their long overseas drought.

It has been 16 years since they recorded their last Test series win outside the subcontinent, which was in England, in 1986.

Though India look quite formidable, coach John Wright was not ready to wear the tag of favourites.

"I think England will be tough. They fought well in India and we experienced that. And then we have to play well overseas, that's what we are trying to concentrate upon," he said.

Wright's assessment is not misplaced considering this is the start of a new series and there is a lot of difference between Tests and one-day cricket.

And there is some problem for the Indians right at the top of the batting order. The tourists are most likely to continue their great experiment with the openers, this time leaving out Shiv Sunder Das, who is in a midst of a woeful lack of form, for the dashing Virender Sehwag.

Sehwag, who is a regular opener in the one-day matches, has played all his five Tests as a middle order batsman and it remains to be seen whether he is able to combine well with the other opener, Wasim Jaffer, who too is quite inexperienced.

The Indians have decided to risk two inexperienced openers keeping in mind their formidable middle order comprising Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman and skipper Sourav Ganguly, but it still is a gamble and Wright is hoping it comes off.

"He (Sehwag) is a very positive player who will put pressure on the opposition if he gets the opportunity early," Wright said.

There are some problems in the bowling department too with the Indians not quite sure of whether to play both their spinners or go for a three-pronged pace attack with one spinner.

This is also India's first series after the retirement of speedster Javagal Srinath and an opportunity for the four pacemen in the squad to establish themselves firmly.

Sanjay Bangar is almost sure to figure in the final eleven on the strength of his fine all-round performance in the three-day games preceding the Test.

England, on the other hand, are considerbaly weakened by the absence of some of their star performers. Three frontline bowlers - Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick and Alex Tudor are set to miss the Test due to injuries while opener Marcus Trescothick has been ruled out of the entire series due to a broken thumb.

Ganguly is not ready to treat his opponents lightly.

"Nasser Hussain's team has done quite well in the last three Tests and we are taking nothing for granted," he said.

The injuries have forced England to rope in a few veterans in a bid to provide support to two pacemen still on their feet in the squad - Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff. Hoggard is low on confidence on account of a poor NatWest one-day series while Flintoff has never been rated a frontline bowler for England.

It has facilitated the return of Dominic Cork, who last played a Test against India in 1996, and Chris Silverwood, who has only been put on alert by the England selectors.

England have a mystery value in their new bowler Simon Jones, who is yet to play a Test but is reported to possess a lot of pace.

And despite Trescothick's absence, England have a powerful batting line-up. The likes of Mark Butcher, Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain, Alec Stewart and Graham Thorpe have been in good form and are bolstered by the inclusion of John Crawley.

(c) Copyright 2002 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.