Midsummer night’s dream: Kohli & Co face first challenge in Birmingham

For a team that has big ambitions and likes to take on challenges head-on, India won’t find a bigger opportunity than what lies ahead for the next seven weeks in England.

Though India have undergone a transition in that period and are now arguably the best on paper, they know they will be judged on how they perform overseas. | AFP

CHENNAI: For a team that has big ambitions and likes to take on challenges head-on, India won’t find a bigger opportunity than what lies ahead for the next seven weeks in England.

The first of the many tests that India will encounter through the course of this English summer arrives on Wednesday in Birmingham, at a venue where India have lost five of their six Tests and drawn one.

That in itself should be the foremost target for India: to knock England out at a venue which is more English than the rest they’ll find on this tour, although with the backdrop of possibly the largest settlement of desi population.

Winning matches and series abroad is what India have been aspiring to for a while under Virat Kohli. Never mind that they’re the No 1 Test team, 14 rating points ahead of South Africa. Numbers don’t always tell the story, do they? Among the teams that have topped Test rankings in nine years, India are the only team to not win a series outside the subcontinent and Caribbean. Since 2011, they’ve won only one Test in England and South Africa.

Though India have undergone a transition in that period and are now arguably the best on paper, they know they will be judged on how they perform overseas. They went to South Africa earlier this year, and failed to change that trend. Never mind their win on possibly the most-challenging surface they’ve encountered so far, their defeats in the Rainbow Nation were more self-indicted, courtesy their playing XI.This team under Kohli doesn’t like it when gaffes are pointed out, especially when it comes to selection. Even if that relates to one of their best overseas player being benched.

India learned some harsh lessons from that tour. Kohli’s riposte of “does it matter?” to their constantly-changing XI — an ostensible factor that spurred another overseas defeat — wasn’t the best of answers.
For it should matter. Because, all successful, dominant teams of the past which have tasted overseas success have thrived on consistency. And that is why this five-Test series is a massive chance for Kohli & Co. Given England aren’t as strong as they used to be in this format, this serves as a golden — once-in-a-lifetime one, for that matter — opportunity for them to be the third India side to win a series in Old Blighty.

In their last five home Tests, England have lost to West Indies and Pakistan; a clear indication of where they stand in terms of some of their past teams.

James Anderson, Alastair Cook and Stuart Broad are on the wrong side of 30s, and appear to be past their best. That serves as quite the contrast to an India side that is young, hungry, and looking to break barriers.

“The fact that this is a long series is something we are looking forward to. It gives you a lot of opportunities. There are two ways to think about this: either it’s too long a series to play, or that there are many opportunities in every session of every Test,” remarked skipper Kohli on the eve of the first match.

“We are definitely in a good frame of mind. We’re a young team who have played a lot of matches. That’s a very rare combination to find. We are comfortable with where we stand. We are confident in our abilities.

We have the skill set, character and mental toughness that is required to win overseas.”
Though India’s bowling — their strong-point in recent times — will be hampered by the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, India will fancy winning at least two of these five clashes. But whether that is enough to bring home the Pataudi Trophy remains to be seen

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