England Batting Line-Up Can Chase Almost Anything, Says Ajit Agarkar
Jan 9, 2019 at 4:10 PM
Former India all-rounder Ajit Agarkar thinks England can chase almost any total on this tour as their team has one of the best batting line-ups currently, which possesses the ability to eclipse any target set by the opposition.
“There team is very strong as far as their batting is concerned. You know in bowling, you still have to find ways to bowl in India. They have a well-balanced team, couple of spinners and lots of options. Stokes gives them that balance because off his all-round abilities but it is their batting you know which can chase anything on the day,” Agarkar told ESPNcricinfo.
“You look at Hales, Roy, Root, Bairstow, Woakes. You keep going down the order, there’s Buttler and you know all which is so dangerous because of the way the field restrictions are with just four fielders outside the ring until the 40th over. You know if you don’t keep picking wickets, it will be hard to stop because all of them go at one tempo.”
Agarkar’s words carry a lot of weight as England is loaded with batsmen, who have the ability to bat at the same strike rate throughout their innings with Joe Root being the center of attraction. They have the ability to chase anything down, a glimpse of which we saw in the first practice game. The England XI team chased down a mammoth total of 305 despite India A team having a strong bowling line-up. In the second game as well, while batting first, they put a good total on the board.
In addition to that, though Indian batting line-up has reliable batsmen but still the batting relies heavily on Virat Kohli.
The first ODI of the series will be played in Pune on January 15.