The heatwave in England is bound to have an impact on the pitches for the upcoming five-match Test series against India. The impact was such that England recalled leg-spinner Adil Rashid out of retirement from red-ball cricket. It will not be a surprise if Indian skipper Virat Kohli includes three spinners in the playing XI. Even in the warm-up game against Essex the temperatures were soaring as per the country’s standards.
Former Indian spinners Maninder Singh and Erapalli Prasanna shared their views on the impact heatwave can have on the Test series. Maninder told CricketNext,
“The weather will see both teams fielding more than one spinner. In such a case, I think my money is on Ashwin and Kuldeep. The simple reason is that both of them can pick wickets. On foreign soil you need wicket-takers. I am happy if my spinner gives away say 120 runs in 30 overs and gives me 5 wickets in return.”
Prasanna had a similar opinion as well, he said,
“The spinners in the team know their job very well. They will get assistance from the weather and they also have a brilliant captain in the form of Kohli. With this team always looking to go for the kill, it should be a thrilling contest between bat and ball.”
Indian spinners can turn the ball square on dry wickets. Ashwin has had practice bowling on English pitches during his County stint with Worcestershire. Ravindra Jadeja is always a threat to right-handed batsman whereas chinaman Kuldeep Yadav has been bamboozling the English batsmen all summer. It will be a tough call for the team management to bench any spinner under these circumstances.
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On the other hand, it will be a test for Indian batsmen, too. Rashid posed a few questions to Indian batsmen including Kohli. His performance in the limited overs series is the reason he has been recalled. Moeen Ali has already proved himself against India. Part-time spinner Joe Root is the latest entrant as he recently picked up his career-best four-wicket haul against Lancashire.
