England vs India: Darren Gough touts the Indian pace attack as an ominous prospect for opponents

The Indian team is all set to take part in the five-match Test series against England that starts from August 1 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. After winning the T20I series, they couldn’t translate their form into the ODI series and lost 1-2 with defeats at Lord’s and Headingley respectively. Virat Kohli’s men would now be eager to put up a sterling show in the red-ball fixtures.

Prior to the series, they were jolted with a body blow when Bhuvneshwar Kumar wasn’t included in the squad for the first three matches owing to a back injury. To their relief, Jasprit Bumrah, who didn’t play the limited overs’ series against the Brits due to a thumb injury, was drafted in for the Test matches.

The pace battery also consists of the likes of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur. Meanwhile, Darren Gough, the former English pacer, believes that Kumar’s exclusion is a major blow, but the team isn’t anymore dependant on a single pacer, unlike the earlier times.

Today, you have to be on top of your game to beat India

“Bhuvneshwar is a big loss and he wasn’t at his best during the ODI series because he was carrying an injury. But India aren’t anymore a side that is dependent on one bowler. Earlier, they were dependent on Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath or Zaheer Khan, that is no longer the case. India are suited for all sorts of wickets, and they look prepared and geared up for this Test series,” Gough told The Times of India (TOI).

“Today, you have to be on top of your game to beat India, whether you are playing at home or away, because they posses everything in their bowling attack. Kumar gives you swing, Bumrah is a skidding seam bowler, Umesh Yadav can move the new ball as well and he has got pace.

Mohammed Shami is strong and hits the deck hard, while Ishant Sharma has experience, and he can bowl lots of overs,” he added.

The Indian team was found wanting in the Test series when they toured the nation back in 2014 under the leadership of MS Dhoni. The visitors won at Lord’s but slumped to three consecutive defeats to finish the series 1-3. Kohli’s India is currently the top-ranked side in whites and they would like to play like one in their upcoming fixtures.

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