Former England new-ball bowler Steve Harmison believes Indian batting line-up is not as intimidating as it was before ahead of the much-anticipated five-Test series against England. Harmison believes the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill lack the pedigree in Test cricket even as they have been successful in the white-ball format.
With Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane absent from the set-up, the Indian batting line-up will have some relatively few inexperienced faces. With Gill and Iyer not in the best of forms in Test cricket, the onus will largely be on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to score runs over the long series.
Speaking to IANS, Harmison said the Indian batting unit of the yesteryear was quite strong, but expressed doubts whether the present can fulfil their roles well."
"India will fancy their chances in their own environment, especially with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in their batting line-up. England, though, will feel that there are some vulnerabilities in that batting line-up. When I toured India, you had those big batters in the likes of Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman – all stellar players. I am not sure if it’s as intimidating as it was back in the day. Shubman Gill is a very talented player and Yashasvi Jaiswal is a good player, so as Shreyas Iyer. But I don’t think there are more of established international players in red-ball as compared to white-ball set-up."
"I would still like for them to have more practice time in India" - Steve Harmison on Englaand
Harmison added that he stands by his earlier comments of wanting England to practice more in India than in a different nation, especially given the bowlers' inexperience. The 45-year-old stated:
"My opinion hasn’t changed. I would still like for them to have more practice time in India. I'm not a big advocate for warm-up games as I don’t think they are necessary anymore and guys play enough cricket around the world now. My comments that time were a little harsher and were born out of seeing the bowlers who haven’t bowled in India previously, especially the three spin bowlers."
"I understand why they are practising in Abu Dhabi, as the facilities there are unbelievable. England will then be very well prepared when they come to playing in India."
The 1st Test begins on January 25th.
