Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has insisted that he would not premier England bowler in the test series against India as he feels that Anderson has lost his form in the recent months and is yet to regain full fitness to play in the series.
The 34-year old played a major role in helping England clinch a historic series win against India in 2012 but has suffered a shoulder injury in August as he is yet to bowl. But he is expected to take part in the series towards the end as news about his availability has come for the visitors just ahead of the tour.
“I wouldn’t play him (Anderson) in India to be honest. It’s not the same Anderson as 2012 (when England won the Test series in India 2-1). I saw him in the Test series in England recently. He has lost a bit of pace. And I think Stuart Broad and Steven Finn and Ben Stokes (should play) because you will need a bit of pace in these conditions to get that ball to reverse. So, I don’t know whether he will make the side when he comes back. Not in Vizag where the ball will turn square,” said Ganguly.
“I don’t see him playing in the second Test. And if I were the England captain, I would go in with two fast bowlers – Broad and Stokes (along with Chris Woakes). And play three spinners – Moeen Ali, Gareth Batty, and another spinner. The advantage is, Moeen, Stokes and Woakes can get runs with the bat. It makes the batting a lot longer and you still have three spinners for these conditions. That’s the way I will go and I don’t think Jimmy Anderson bowling at 80 miles an hour will find a place in my side.”
The 34-year old is ruled out of Rajkot test and is still doubtful for the Vizag test and could make a comeback in the latter stages of the five match test matches.
However, Sourav Ganguly has stressed the importance of Moeen Ali in the upcoming tour as he has the ability to pick up wickets on spin friendly tracks and is also very good with the bat.
“He (Moeen) is definitely a threat for India. The wickets will spin. His confidence against India will be high as a bowler. He has definitely become a better batsman than since that trip of 2014 (in England) when he was peppered with short deliveries from Ishant Sharma and the Indian bowlers. He has definitely become a better cricketer than then. He will be tested. He needs to get runs and get wickets as well, but do they have a Graeme Swann or Monty Panesar? I don’t think so.”
The 44-year old has also revealed that England needs to create magic if they were to challenge the current Indian team as the Team has been in the scintillating form off late as they recently became the top-ranked test side in the world.
“It’s going to be very, very tough for England. That’s what I believe. But in sport, anything can happen. They will have to play very, very well to get past India in this series. Not just play very, very well, (they have to) do something absolutely magical.“