As the Indian team leaves for England for a six-Test tour – one World Test Championship final against New Zealand (Southampton, June 18-22) and five-Test series against England (August 4 to September 14) – on May 2, Virat Kohli and Co. will look to make amends. Of course, while the WTC final will be the first goal, India will also look to regain the Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi Trophy, which India won in its inception in 2007 under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy (1-0). Since then, India have made three trips to England for Tests and lost each one of them – 0-4 in 2011, 1-3 in 2014 and 1-4 in 2018.
Former India captain and a champion middle-order batsman in the late 1970s and the whole of 1980s, Dilip Vengsarkar was the chairman of selectors in 2007 when Dravid and Co beat Michael Vaughan’s England 1-0 in the three-match rubber, winning the second Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, by seven wickets while drawing the first at Lord’s, London and the third at The Oval, London.
Vengsarkar has tasted tremendous success batting in England, scoring four Test centuries including three in his first three appearances at the Home of Cricket, Lord’s. No other overseas batsman has scored more centuries at Lord’s than Vengsarkar – 103 in 1979, 157 in 1982, 126 not out in 1986. His batting average of 48.00 in England is his best outside India.
In this exclusive chat with Cricketnext, the 65-year-old Mumbai batting stalwart who has played in 116 Tests and amassed 6,868 runs with 17 hundreds and 35 fifties, says that Virat Kohl & Co. are best placed to win the Test series in England while New Zealand have the edge in the WTC final.
Excerpts:
As the Indian team embarks on a long tour of England for the WTC final followed by the five-Test series, how do you look forward to it?
It is a very big season for the Indian players. It will be tough to stay in the bio-bubble for such a long time. It will definitely take a toll on the players’ mental health because they have to stay in the bio-bubble and also perform at their best all the time. The Indian team is doing extremely well in recent times. But, of course, England in England will be an interesting opposition. How the Indian team acclimatises to the English conditions quickly is what would matter most. India is in good form. The team is well settled. It is a good all-round team and I am sure they will do well.
Being in a bio-bubble is difficult, but they must be quite used to it by now, isn’t it – IPL 2020, Australia 2020-21, England home series, and the IPL 2021 till it is suspended – were all in a bio-bubble?
They may have got used to the bio-bubble but it may not be the best for everyone concerned. It is tough, being in a bio-bubble and performing to your best. It is such a long tour. It may be okay for a short tour, maybe a month or so, but it is going to be a four-and-a-half-month tour. It is going to be tough on players from both sides.
Will New Zealand have the edge in the WTC final because they play two Tests (June 2-6 at Lord’s and June 10-14 in Birmingham) before the final?
Of course, New Zealand will have an advantage because they play two Tests before the WTC final. It will help them. How quickly India adapts to the conditions will be important. But, New Zealand would have already had two Tests experience and would be playing in their third Test on the trot against India, while it will be the first on the tour for Kohli And Co.
What is the key to batting in England, where you have had tremendous success, scoring four centuries including three in your first three appearances at Lord’s?
It has got to do with getting acclimatised to the conditions. Spending as much time as possible in the middle is vital. In the olden days, we had the advantage as we used to have more county games before the Test matches and in between Tests. That definitely helped to get used to the conditions. How they have scheduled this tour, I don’t know. I hope they get to play some matches before the Tests. Because playing county games helps to get into the groove, get acclimatised to the conditions.
It is said that you played so late in England and that was one of the reasons for your success there. Can you explain?
The ball moves around quite a lot in English conditions. The conditions are overcast most of the time. The ball grips on the wicket also. It swings a lot. You have to be more careful when driving the ball on the up or through the offside. If you go for the big drives, when the ball moves, it is going to take the edge off the bat. You have to be more careful when playing those shots. Pushing for ones and twos to start with will definitely help. Staying side-on most of the time also helps. Because of the movement of the ball, you are in a better position to play the shot.
In that regard, do you think the team will depend heavily on Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, all of them in their third full tour of England?
Rohit Sharma is also in the team, isn’t he? So, the Indian team has a very good batting line-up. If they play to their potential, I am sure they will do extremely well.
Dilip Vengsarkar
After the WTC final, the Tests against England start on August 4. This month-and-a-half gap would give the team more time to get used to the conditions, wouldn’t it?
What are they going to do in those one-and-a-half months? I am really surprised with the scheduling. What kind of a tour is being organised? How can you have a Test match now and you don’t have any cricket for one-and-a-half months, and then you play the Test series. Even if Pakistan and Sri Lanka visit England for limited-overs series in July (England host Sri Lanka for three T20Is and three ODIs in June-July and Pakistan for three ODIs and three T20Is in July), why can’t they have the England-India Tests immediately after the WTC final? Is the team coming back after the WTC final and then going back? What are they going to do for those one-and-a-half months? Even if they schedule county matches, one-and-a-half months is too long a period to play county matches. This itinerary is weird. If there is no cricket for one-and-a-half months, it is strange. If India is there to play Test matches, they should continue playing Tests rather than have a gap. Why have Pakistan and Sri Lanka playing T20Is and ODIs in between? That is absurd.
Hanuma Vihari is playing for Warwickshire in English County Championship ahead of the WTC. How much will that benefit him and the team?
It definitely helps to get acclimatised to the conditions. If he is getting to play good three-day or four-day games, it definitely helps.
How much can the team take the confidence from the series win in Australia earlier this year?
Amazing. The victory in Australia is one of the best in the history of Indian cricket. The way the young team turned things around when some of the players were unfit and the youngsters answering the call was brilliant.
India’s last series win in England came in 2007. Now is probably the best chance to make amends, isn’t it?
In 2007, I was the chairman of the selection committee when we won the Test series in England. Happy memories. This is the best chance for Kohli and his team as he has a good bowling attack too. We have got good batters. India has the best chance to win the series.
What makes the Ravi Shastri-Kohli combine click?
It always helps when the coach and the captain have the same wavelength. It is a good relationship. It definitely helps the team.
India have had foreign coaches with John Wright, Greg Chappell, Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher. What was your stance then? Did India need a foreign coach?
My take was not about a foreign coach or an Indian coach. Wherever he is from, he should have the same wavelength and be a part of the team. What I have seen with foreign coaches is that they are not with the team after a day’s play or after a match. They are amongst themselves and with their own support staff. The coach has to be with the team all the time. There are a lot of issues to handle with the team. How you keep motivating the team so that they perform to the optimum level is crucial. I believe that if you have Indian coaches, it helps. This applies to Indian Premier League also. I don’t know what these foreigners are doing in the IPL. Why not have Indian coaches? There are so many good coaches in India. How many Indian coaches are coaching abroad like the Big Bash League and other leagues abroad? Don’t we have good trainers and physios? They are also very well qualified. Psychologically also, Indian players are well versed with the Indian coaches, the language, and how to go about things.
How crucial is an all-rounder in England? Will India miss Hardik Pandya?
An all-rounder makes a lot of difference, gives you the option of playing five batsmen and five bowlers including the all-rounder himself. That is a much better-balanced team. Otherwise, you play with six batsmen and four bowlers. When you play with four bowlers, all of them should be capable of taking five wickets in an innings. If one is injured, three bowlers have to bowl 90 overs in a day, and you are on the back foot straightaway. I don’t know about Hardik Pandya because I have not seen him bowl of late. He has to bowl, that is important.
How much has the role of a wicketkeeper changed from the times when it was a specialist role with runs from him a bonus?
It depends according to the situation. You cannot have a fixed idea about certain things. The wicketkeeper is a very important position in the team. Besides effecting stumpings and run-outs, if he is batting well, why not? If you have someone like Rishabh Pant, who can change the complexion of the match with his batting also, that is a huge advantage for the Indian team. You cannot have a fixed mind and say wicket-keeping comes first. If you are improving as a wicket-keeper, why not? Same thing happened with Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He kept improving.
How pleasing is the current Indian pace bowling unit to see?
They are absolutely a potent force. The important factor is how they keep themselves fit, as this is a five-match Test series after the WTC final. But they have good options also.
How much do you look back at the 1986 tour of England that India won the three-Test series 2-0 – at Lord’s and Leeds (Headingley)?
The important thing is if you score a hundred and that helps the team win, you get happiness. There is some sort of fulfillment in what you have worked for. 1986 was the first time India won a Test at Lord’s. We also won in Headingley and we beat them 2-0. England was a very good side, one of the best in World cricket. That tour was very satisfying.
What has been your best moment playing in England?
Scoring the hundred when India won at Lord’s in 1986 was important. Headingley hundred was also important because that was a low-scoring game. Scoring a hundred on my first tour in 1979, especially in English conditions, was special. Since Vinoo Mankad scored a hundred in 1952 (184), no Indian has scored a hundred at Lord’s until I did in 1979. That was very satisfying.
Your unmatched (by an overseas batsman) feat of scoring three successive hundreds at Lord’s is still talked about…
Lord’s is the headquarters of cricket. Everybody likes to score a hundred there. It has a rich history and tradition. Playing or watching cricket at Lord’s is the ultimate experience for anyone. I used to go whenever India toured. I take my academy’s team to England every year and we always have a practice session at the Lord’s just to give the players a feel of the atmosphere at Lord’s and the conditions there.
https://www.news18.com/cricketnext/...nd-co-to-win-a-series-in-england-3793490.html
