Wasim Jaffer (Credits: Twitter)
Wasim Jaffer (Credits: Twitter)

Wasim Jaffer firstly tipped his hat to the Indian side as they have been putting in such performances “for a while now” pointing out to wins against Australia and England where they won the series despite losing the first Test by a huge margin.

If there is anything the second-Test defeat reinforced about England, it is that their batting line-up is heavily dependent on skipper Joe Root. The right-hander has already smashed five centuries this season and is the only England batsman who has looked comfortable in the first two Tests against India. Wasim Jaffer has opined that if this doesn’t change, England will likely “go down”.

Wasim Jaffer(Satish Bate / Hindustan Times)
Wasim Jaffer(Satish Bate / Hindustan Times)

Wasim Jaffer: Indian Test Team Should Be Credited As They Have Been Performing Well Recently Both Against Australia And England

While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Wasim Jaffer firstly credited the Indian side as they didn’t give up despite losing the first Test in Australia tour and against England at home. He added that even at home against England earlier this year, India bounced back from a tough position to win the series 3-1.

“Hats off to this Indian side because they have been doing this for a while now. It was the same during the Australian tour, they had their backs against the wall, not in one but many Test matches and they proved that they don’t give up. They played exactly like this even in India against England after being one-nil down to win the series 3-1. They have been outstanding,” explained Jaffer.

Brisbane Test: India beat Australia by 3 wickets at Gabba to win series 2-1, retain Border-Gavaskar Trophy Image Source : AP IMAGE
Brisbane Test: India beat Australia by 3 wickets at Gabba to win series 2-1, retain Border-Gavaskar Trophy Image Source: AP IMAGE

Being 1-0 down, losing the services of regular skipper Virat Kohli due to his paternity leave, having lost several key players like Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Hanuma Vihari, Ravichandran Ashwin, KL Rahul, and Ravindra Jadeja due to injuries at various stages of 4 match Test series, a second-string Ajinkya Rahane-led India staged a comeback as they won their second straight Test series on Australian soil.

In the next Test series against England in India, England won the first Test by 227 runs only to lose the next 3 Tests by 317 runs, 10 wickets, and an innings and 25 runs. Ravichandran Ashwin picked 32 scalps and debutant Axar Patel picked 27 scalps. Joe Root amassed 368 runs while Rohit Sharma managed 345 runs.

Wasim Jaffer: England Are Heavily Dependent On Joe Root

Talking about England, Wasim Jaffer warned the hosts that if they don’t sort out their batting, they will “go down” and that India may go on to win their first Test series on English soil this decade.

“England will have to recover really quickly now and sort out their batting more than the bowling. They rely heavily on Joe Root and someone else needs to step up and do so quickly otherwise they look like they’ll go down. India haven’t won a Test series [in England] for a while but it looks very likely that this Indian team is going to dominate the next Test and probably even further in this series,” commented Jaffer.

Joe Root
Joe Root Photograph: Sri Lanka Cricket

Joe Root has amassed 1277 runs playing 10 Tests in 2021, averaging 57.21, and has hit 5 tons. He scored 228 and 186 against Sri Lanka and hit 218 in the 1st Test against and in India while scoring 109 and an unbeaten 180 in the first two successive Tests when India toured England. The third of the five Tests between India and England will begin on August 25 at Headingly, Leeds.

Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer has asserted that England’s line-up is over-reliant on skipper Joe Root and needs to fix their batting woes in order to survive in the series and feels India is favourites to win the series. Day 5 of a dramatic Lord’s Test saw India bundle the hosts out for 120 to claim a 1-0 lead in the 5-match Test series. It was a brilliant bowling display on show, and the English batsmen couldn’t survive the onslaught.