England prepares for 3-test series against India
Thursday, 19 July 2007
LONDON, Jul 18 (AP): England faces its first serious test challenge since its disastrous Ashes defence when it starts the first of three matches against India Thursday.
While England's one-day form has remained poor, the test team rebounded from the completion of a 5-0 loss to Australia in January by winning its recent four-test series against an inexperienced and demoralized West Indies team 3-0.
But only middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul seriously troubled England's bowlers then and things are sure to be different against an India lineup featuring the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, captain Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.
India could even replace England at No. 2 in the test rankings with a 3-0 series win.
Tendulkar heads into the first test at Lord's in search of one of the few personal milestones he's yet to achieve - a test century at the home of cricket.
"This is a ground where all the batters dream of getting a hundred and I'm no different," Tendulkar said. At age 34, Tendulkar is probably on his last tour to England, so the first test is likely to be his final chance to get his name inscribed on Lord's famous Honours Board.
"The previous tour to England was in 2002, now it is 2007, so it might be that 2011 or 2012 could be the next time we're here and that would take a special effort," Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar, nicknamed "The Little Master," has 10,922 runs in 137 tests to occupy fourth place on the list of all-time scorers, and has a leading 37 hundreds.
His top score at Lord's in five test innings was 31 in 1996, but he heads into the match having scored a century in each of India's two test wins over Bangladesh in May.
Ganguly is also in good form, averaging 46 in five innings since returning to test cricket in December. "When I came back in South Africa, I felt I was tougher even then when I was playing my best cricket," Ganguly said.
Ganguly has an impressive record in England, hitting a century on debut in 1996 and averages 111 from six tests in the country. No 3 Dravid has also hit three centuries in England, which drew the teams' most recent test series in England 1-1.
The home side will take on India without pace bowler Steve Harmison, who had hernia surgery Tuesday and will be out for as long as six weeks.
The second test starts July 27 in Nottingham, and the third test Aug. 9 at The Oval, so Harmison is out for the entire series. He could be back for some of the seven subsequent one-day internationals.
England's attack will be led by seamer Matthew Hoggard, the most experienced of the bowlers with 240 wickets in 64 tests, and swing bowler Ryan Sidebottom, who impressed against West Indies in May and June.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad should provide the other seam options, with spin coming from Monty Panesar - who claimed Tendulkar as his first test wicket in last year's 1-1 series draw in India.]
England is still without allrounder Andrew Flintoff, who is recovering from an ankle injury. But England played West Indies without Flintoff and six different players scored centuries.
Kevin Pietersen hit a career-best 226 in May's second test to help beat West Indies by an innings and 283 runs -- its worst ever test defeat in terms of runs.
India omitted spinner Harbhajan Singh, but Ganguly expects left-arm fast medium bowler Zaheer Khan and fast-medium Shanthakumaran Sreesanth to make an impact alongside veteran Anil Kumble.
England (likely): Michael Vaughan (captain), Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Matthew Hoggard, Kevin Pietersen, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Andrew Strauss, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad.
India (likely): Rahul Dravid (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Ranadeb Bose, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Sourav Ganguly, Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, V.V.S Laxman, Ramesh Powar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Yuvraj Singh.
While England's one-day form has remained poor, the test team rebounded from the completion of a 5-0 loss to Australia in January by winning its recent four-test series against an inexperienced and demoralized West Indies team 3-0.
But only middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul seriously troubled England's bowlers then and things are sure to be different against an India lineup featuring the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, captain Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.
India could even replace England at No. 2 in the test rankings with a 3-0 series win.
Tendulkar heads into the first test at Lord's in search of one of the few personal milestones he's yet to achieve - a test century at the home of cricket.
"This is a ground where all the batters dream of getting a hundred and I'm no different," Tendulkar said. At age 34, Tendulkar is probably on his last tour to England, so the first test is likely to be his final chance to get his name inscribed on Lord's famous Honours Board.
"The previous tour to England was in 2002, now it is 2007, so it might be that 2011 or 2012 could be the next time we're here and that would take a special effort," Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar, nicknamed "The Little Master," has 10,922 runs in 137 tests to occupy fourth place on the list of all-time scorers, and has a leading 37 hundreds.
His top score at Lord's in five test innings was 31 in 1996, but he heads into the match having scored a century in each of India's two test wins over Bangladesh in May.
Ganguly is also in good form, averaging 46 in five innings since returning to test cricket in December. "When I came back in South Africa, I felt I was tougher even then when I was playing my best cricket," Ganguly said.
Ganguly has an impressive record in England, hitting a century on debut in 1996 and averages 111 from six tests in the country. No 3 Dravid has also hit three centuries in England, which drew the teams' most recent test series in England 1-1.
The home side will take on India without pace bowler Steve Harmison, who had hernia surgery Tuesday and will be out for as long as six weeks.
The second test starts July 27 in Nottingham, and the third test Aug. 9 at The Oval, so Harmison is out for the entire series. He could be back for some of the seven subsequent one-day internationals.
England's attack will be led by seamer Matthew Hoggard, the most experienced of the bowlers with 240 wickets in 64 tests, and swing bowler Ryan Sidebottom, who impressed against West Indies in May and June.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad should provide the other seam options, with spin coming from Monty Panesar - who claimed Tendulkar as his first test wicket in last year's 1-1 series draw in India.]
England is still without allrounder Andrew Flintoff, who is recovering from an ankle injury. But England played West Indies without Flintoff and six different players scored centuries.
Kevin Pietersen hit a career-best 226 in May's second test to help beat West Indies by an innings and 283 runs -- its worst ever test defeat in terms of runs.
India omitted spinner Harbhajan Singh, but Ganguly expects left-arm fast medium bowler Zaheer Khan and fast-medium Shanthakumaran Sreesanth to make an impact alongside veteran Anil Kumble.
England (likely): Michael Vaughan (captain), Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Matthew Hoggard, Kevin Pietersen, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Andrew Strauss, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad.
India (likely): Rahul Dravid (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Ranadeb Bose, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Sourav Ganguly, Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, V.V.S Laxman, Ramesh Powar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Yuvraj Singh.