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After a disappointing tour match against Somerset, India’s tour of England gets underway for real this week with the first test at Lords.
Being the first match of an eagerly anticipated series, cricket fans across the world will be watching as two of the best teams in world cricket go head to head.
Andrew Strauss has already set the tone for England ahead of the first match with runs against India for Somerset in the recent tour match.
The England captain scored 78 and an unbeaten 109 at Taunton as he justified his temporary switch to Somerset in order to find some form.
It wasn’t just Strauss that dominated a below-par Indian bowling line-up though. Somerset dominated the match, declaring in both innings.
They also dismissed India for 224 with centurion Suresh Raina the only batsman to come out of the match with any credit.
England will be encouraged with what they saw over the three days and for Strauss it couldn’t have gone any better.
He will know that India will raise their game for the first test though. They had some key players missing against Somerset – including captain MS Dhoni – and their level of performance should receive a massive boost.
The first session of this match is likely to be crucial in setting the tone. If England can start strongly, India will start to get déjà-vu of their three days at Taunton and generally continue the negative start to the tour.
However, if India start strongly, the tour match will be seen as largely insignificant and they would have stamped their authority on this series.
It is certainly a big occasion for both teams this week. It is the No.1 test side in the world taking on the team that aims to be the No.1 test side in the world, at the home of cricket.
If England win the series by two clear tests, they achieve their goal of becoming the highest ranked test team, but they will not be looking that far ahead at this stage. It is all about the five days at Lords for now.
With regards to the team news, England’s only decision is whether to play Stuart Broad or Tim Bresnan as the third seamer.
As for India, Raina’s century against Somerset secured his place in the side ahead of Yuvraj Singh and he will bat at No.6 as well as offering another option for Dhoni with the ball.
With the waiting nearly over, it is worth noting that England are slight favourites for success at Lords and indeed to win the series.
However, people shouldn’t be too fooled by India’s performance against Somerset and note that this is likely to be an extremely tight series.
It all gets underway on Thursday at 11am.
May 6th, 2012 at 4:57 pm
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