Sourav Ganguly believes Virat Kohli-led India are on their way to beat England 4-0 in the ongoing Test series.
After an average show in Rajkot Test, India performed extremely well in the next two Tests at Vizag and Mohali to go 2-0 up in the series. Jayant Yadav, who had an impressive debut in the second Test, was splendid with both bat and ball in the third Test as well. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin too scored fifties in India’s first innings to end England’s hopes of making a comeback in the Test.
“India will not look back – they are 2-0 up and are on their way to probably 4-0,” said Ganguly.
“India have come back very well after the (drawn) first Test. They are going to put pressure on England in the next two Test matches as well. But having said that, Mumbai and Chennai are probably England’s better chances (to win) than Vizag and Mohali because of bounce. It may spin but with bounce it might help the way England play.”
He further said: “Cricket has changed since the times of Gavaskar because there were more drawn Test matches then and there are more result-oriented games now. You see around the world, Test matches finish in four days. Kohli has played a lot of Test matches at home which is easier. From that point of view, he has had a little bit of advantage over Gavaskar and MS Dhoni.
“But we can’t take the credit away from him. He has beaten West Indies in West Indies (2016) and Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka (2015). He’s done superbly but these records will change once they start going away. I think that’s where it will be the real challenge for Virat Kohli and (head coach) Anil Kumble.”
Ganguly also had a piece of advice for England team as he said visitors can also make a comeback but they’ll have to play out of their skin to do so.
“They(England) will have to really, really play well to beat India and most importantly England are really behind in the spin department. The question is, do Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali have it in them to pick 20 (Indian) wickets? I don’t think their fast bowlers will be able to pick 20 wickets and win a Test match.”
The fourth Test of the series starts from December 8 at Mohali.