Looking forward to a cracking series: Ravichandran Ashwin

India’s off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes that the England team could be a tough nut to crack in the four-match Test series. Although team India won against Australia, the England side will be equally challenging to play against. In a recent interview, Ravichandran Ashwin mentioned that the team would not take England lightly as he expects the four-match series to be a closely contested one. The Indian cricket team didn't lose a Test series on home soil since England’s 2-1 win back in 2012.

Axar Patel has been ruled out of the first Test with a knee injury, and India decided to play backup spinner Shahbaz Nadeem. The management opted to go with Nadeem instead of Kuldeep Yadav. Yadav once again didn’t get an opportunity in the playing XI. 

India decided to play seamers Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and the spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Shahbaz Nadeem, and Washington Sundar.

For England, Zak Crawley was ruled out of the first two Tests. Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley will open the innings. Ollie Pope is back in the squad. Dominic Bess and Jack Leach were included in the squad along with pacers Jofra Archer and James Anderson. 

England lost the previous series but the result did not reflect how well they played: Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin highlighted that although England lost the previous Test series in India 0-4, the side played exceptionally well. India defeated England in four of the five Tests the two sides faced each other in India. The final Test of that series back in 2016 was played in Chennai. In that Test, India made history by recording its highest-ever Test total of 759 for seven declared. Karun Nair became the first Indian batsman after Virender Sehwag to score a Test triple hundred in the same match.

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