Former India cricketer and politician Gautam Gambhir made a big statement ahead of India-England four-match Test series scheduled to being on 5 February in Chennai.
Gambhir feels that England does not stand a chance of winning against Indian in the Test series. He reckens that England spin attack lacks the calibre to manipulate the Indian batsmen on their home soil. And, if at all, England have ’50- 50 chances’ of winning the pink-ball Test.
“I don’t see England winning any of the Test matches with the kind of spin attack they’ve got,” Gambhir was quoted as saying in Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’.
“It has to be 3-0 India or probably 3-1. I’m only going to give a Pink Ball Test match, probably 50-50 to England just from the conditions point of view,” he added.
Moeen Ali, Jack Leach and Dom Bess are named England spinners for the Test series. Ali who is an experienced campaigner with 81 wickets from 60 Tests failed to play any of the 2 matches against Sri Lanka while Bess and Leach were impressive in their outings.
The 39-years-old also spoke about Joe Root who has impressed all with his remarkable form. Gambhir said England skipper will face all new challenges against Indian bowler like Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin.
“This is going to be a completely different challenge for someone like Joe Root,” Gambhir said.
“Yes, he has played really well in Sri Lanka, but when you face people like Jasprit Bumrah on any wicket, or for that matter, R Ashwin, when his confidence is sky-high after what he has done in Australia, I am sure it is going to be a completely different beast and a completely different ball game,” Gautam Gambhir said.