Backing Team India to win the ongoing five-match IND vs ENG 2024 series against England, former Australia captain Ian Chappell believes the hosts are set to face a tough battle from the visitors.
While India have defeated oppositions for fun in home Test in the last few years, they have been given a run for their money in the ongoing series so far. The Ben Stokes-led side registered a stunning 28-run win in the first Test before losing the second Test by 106 runs. Even in the second Test, India were not at their dominating best but still managed to win the game to draw level in the series.
In both the innings, most of India’s batters failed to do well. In the first innings, Yashasvi Jaiswal (209) was the only batter to score big as no other player could even touch the 40-run mark. In the second innings, Shubman Gill scored 104 of the 255 runs scored by Team India.
And ahead of the third Test, Ian Chappell has said that India are set to face a stiff battle from Ben Stokes & Co. He stated that the current English team is far better than the one that arrived in England in 2020/21 season and lost the series 1-3.
“As the home side India should eventually win a tough series, but it has a real battle on their hands. England under the aggressive leadership of Stokes are a far cry from the poorly captained Joe Root team that capitulated against spin on their last tour of the country. This India versus England contest is shaping up as it should: a tough five-match encounter between two talented sides,” Ian Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.
Ian Chappell hails Ben Stokes:
Writing further, Ian Chappell heaped praise on Ben Stokes and credited him for the remarkable turnaround in England’s fortunes in Test cricket. He stated that the England captain has instilled a winning attitude in the team and it has worked wonders for the English outfit.
“Much of England’s success has been attributed to Bazball – the desire to score quickly and tactically rattle the opposition – but this is a misnomer.
“What Stokes has really done is set out to achieve victory from ball one by playing aggressive cricket in all aspects of the game. Stokes has been extremely smart to adopt such an approach and his aggressive tactics have brought England great success in the win column,” wrote Ian Chappell.
The much-awaited third Test is scheduled to be played in Rajkot. The match will begin on February 15.
