The 2000th Test - England v India – 1st Test – Match Preview
There hasn’t been a “mega” International series since the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World Cup 2011, but the wait is finally over, as England take on India in the first Test of the four-match series. The match will be played at the home of cricket, Lord’s, London in England, on
Thursday, July 21, 2011.
England will be confident, as they have been in good form in the longest version of the game over the past couple of years. The team has won seven series and drawn one since May, 2009.
The Poms will be eying the number one spot in Test match rankings after winning the series convincingly. They require beating India by a margin of two games in order to rise to the top of the table.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964 has been leading the English side well over the past few years. He will be looking for yet another impressive show in-front of the British fans.
The stylish left-handed opener had been out of form with the bat, as he failed to make a significant impression in the series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Somerset-c843.
There is tremendous talent in the English line-up, as they have a very well balanced outfit. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 opens the innings alongside his skipper and has been in tremendous form since the Ashes series in 2010.
Cook was struggling to make it to the Ashes squad, but scored a century against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the last Test of the series, last year, cementing his spot in the team. He didn’t look back from then onwards and became the leading run scorer in the Ashes series
against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746.
Apart from the openers, the hosts have a very solid first-drop player in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/IJL-Trott-c1576. Although he has been there for just 21 games, he has expressed extreme class and temperament in each game played.
The list of talented batsmen continues in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Eoin-Joseph-Gerard-Morgan-c56032 to bat in the middle-order. All have the ability to bat for longer periods and score runs with consistency.
England also have some very useful all-rounder cricketers like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GP-Swann-c1501, who can be handy in more than one department of play. They provide flexibility to the team and will make life difficult for the opposition to get 20 wickets
in a Test match.
Bowlers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JM-Anderson-c1705, Chris Tremlett and Swann will be the key to the home team’s chances against India in the upcoming match. The visitors have a solid batting line-up, which can cause problems for any attack in the world.
Although India doesn’t have a good record playing away from home, they will be eying a strong series on the British soil under the captaincy of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028, who led the team to a triumph in the World Cup.
However, all eyes will be on India’s greatest ever batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Tendulkar-c2556, who is chasing his 100th international ton. He will be looking forward to get it in the first match of the series in order to release some pressure over his shoulders.
The Men in Blue have some very solid batsmen in their line-up, but will miss opening batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/VVS-Laxman-c2772 and Tendulkar to score the
bulk of the runs.
There is a question mark over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harbhajan-Singh-c61453 will be under pressure to do most of the damage and lead from the front, otherwise India’s number one spot will
be in danger.
The series is bound to provide wonderful entertainment to the fans worldwide and both teams will be eying to take the upper hand, winning the first game.
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