India need not worry about England series as the pitches will be dry during summer: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar has backed the Indian team to do well on their England tour of 2021 after performing not up to the mark in the ICC World Test Championship final. According to the former Indian batsman, there are ways in which Indian batsmen can counter the effects of the new balls, which will be in the hands of James Anderson and Stuart Broad. 

The two aging and legendary fast-bowlers of the English team have caused a lot of problems to the Indian batsmen on their previous tours. In 2011, India lost the series 4-0. In 2014, they lost 3-1. And finally, in 2018, under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, India lost 4-1. In all these series, Anderson and Broad were the chief wreckers of the Indian batting line-up. 

Gavaskar pointed out that the Indian team doesn’t have to worry about the conditions in England as the sun will be out by the time the series begins in August-September. In Southampton, the wicket was quite wet and the weather was overcast, making it extremely difficult for the batsmen. The former batting legend further noted that if the Indian batsmen don’t allow Anderson and Broad to take wickets with the new balls, both of them might struggle to pick up wickets with their next spells. 

‘When disappointment fuels determination then fortunes can be turned,’ Gavaskar’s message to team India

“Indian batsmen need not worry about the series against England in August-September as the sun will be out by then and the pitches will be drier and with the greatest of respect, if Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad don’t get wickets in their first spell, they struggle in their next spells,” wrote Gavaskar in his column of The Telegraph. 

The Indian batsmen would be glad knowing that Broad and Anderson aren’t in the best of forms leading into this series. Both the pacers struggled against the New Zealand batting in the two-match Test series in early June. The former Indian captain also said that the team has to use the disappointment of the ICC WTC final loss and turn it as a fuel for the future endeavours. 

“The English summer has begun with disappointment [for India] but when disappointment fuels determination then fortunes can be turned and that’s the attitude this talented team need to make this a truly Indian summer,” said Gavaskar.