A rivalry going back to 1932 will get a fresh chapter as India and England gear up to play the first Test at Chennai’s M.A. Chidambaram Stadium from Friday. The first game of a four-match series would eventually pave the way for the frenzied thrills of five Twenty20Is and three ODIs in a long tour that will conclude on March 28. Besides the angst caused by essential COVID-19 protocols, the bio-bubble and the need to play the first contest behind closed doors, there is a lot at stake for the teams. Australia’s postponement of its tour to South Africa, pitch-forked New Zealand to the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in June. India and England will now tussle for a berth in the summit-clash. India has to secure this series and win a minimum of two Tests and for England, Joe Root’s men have to triumph in three matches. Fresh from its stunning 2-1 Test series triumph in Australia, and bolstered with the return of regular skipper Virat Kohli and key players such as R. Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya, India holds the edge. That a second-string outfit under the unflappable Ajinkya Rahane, upset the more fancied Aussies at Brisbane will hold the Indians in good stead especially in their backyard replete with the tales of spin and other turns.
History might suggest home dominance, but India would remember that over the last four decades, some of its strong outfits emerged second-best to the visitors from the Old Blighty. In the 1984-85 and 2012-13 seasons, England stunned India. For many of those at Chennai’s ground, Chepauk in 1985, the memory still rankles: seamer Neil Foster’s match-haul of 11 wickets and double tons by Mike Gatting and Graeme Fowler that ambushed Sunil Gavaskar’s men. India’s present coach Ravi Shastri featured in that match. Cut to the present, Root’s troops would step in with the extra confidence gleaned from the 2-0 verdict in the two Tests against Sri Lanka at Galle. The captain himself was in prime form — Root struck a 228 and 186 — and the bowling arsenal has the pace troika of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer while Ben Stokes lends the x-factor. Yet, it is India that would step out with a halo in the city on the Coromandel Coast. A strong batting unit and a Bumrah-headlined attack with Ashwin’s guiles could test England’s resolve. The last time the rivals clashed in Chennai (2016), Karun Nair’s triple ton and Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling exploits humbled the visitors. This time around, India would seek fresh heroes while the cricket caravan moves from Chennai to Ahmedabad and Pune.
