England Tests great chance for young Indian team to settle and challenge any side: Venkatapathy Raju
Former India left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju stated that the upcoming five-match Test series against England, starting in Leeds on June 20, present a valuable chance for a young Indian team to find their footing and then confidently compete against any team in the world.
With stalwarts like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli moving on from Tests, it means the inexperienced Indian batting unit is set up for a daunting challenge in England, which also kickstarts their 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. In terms of the current squad, only KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja have hit Test centuries in England.
'That's what people are always saying - that you always should take advantage of your home conditions. But then if you see, there have been a lot of upsets this time – like, India losing to New Zealand. Nobody expected that (would happen) in India. So, like that, anything can change at any time. This is a very young team Indian team with good balance.
'If you see the England team, even their bowling attack is also relatively very new. You don't have those experienced fast bowlers after James Anderson retired and then a couple of players getting injured. So, I think we got a couple of experienced batters in the Indian team who can handle that bowling and it's going to be very evenly matched.'
'So far, England have never come into the finals of the World Test Championship and they are also willing to win more games. Five Test matches is quite a long time, but it gives a very good opportunity for this young Indian team to settle down into a team where they can challenge any team in the world and then try to make it to the next version of the World Test Championship,' Raju told IANS in an exclusive interaction organised by Sony Sports Network on Sunday.
With Yashasvi Jaiswal, B Sai Sudharsan, and Dhruv Jurel coming on their first tour of England while someone like Karun Nair is making a comeback to the Test team and skipper Shubman Gill is yet to prove himself as a dependable batter in overseas conditions, India have their task cut out to ensure the transition era is managed well.
'We should give enough time for a team to settle down, right? We were all so used to seeing all the senior players like Rohit, Virat or Ashwin - guys who have served India for more than 15 years. Naturally, any team will miss players with so much experience. But then, the other players now get a chance.'
'We all dream about playing for the country and all these guys. You ask anyone, they always want to play Test cricket, right? Test cricket is the ultimate cricket. So, it's up to somebody like Sai Sudharsan, if he gets an opportunity, to just establish himself, because talent-wise, people are already talking so high about Sai Sudharsan.'
'Then you have got Karun Nair - he scored a 300, but then lost out his way and now did very well in domestic cricket. So, we should appreciate and congratulate the selection committee for showing faith in him, and for him on performing well in domestic cricket to make a comeback. So, that way, I think the competition in the team itself looks very healthy. It's up to them just to go and utilize this opportunity and become good Test cricketers,' added Raju.
He also seemed pleased with a very good combination of youth and experience in the bowling line-up. 'You have got Jasprit, Siraj and Shardul Thakur have been quite successful in England on the last tour. So, he (Thakur) fits in as an all-rounder.'
'Then you have got Nitish Reddy who also can become a good all-rounder because he has shown what he is capable of batting. But bowling, he has to take a little more workload. Then you have got somebody like Arshdeep, which means the variety is there in our bowling,' added Raju.
He further believes England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir can turn out to be a surprise package who can trouble the Indian batters. Bashir picked career-best figures of 6-81 in the second innings, which took his match haul to nine wickets, as England thrashed Zimbabwe by an innings and 45 runs in the one-off Test at Trent Bridge.
Bashir, who made his Test debut against India at Visakhapatnam last year, has now taken four five-wicket hauls in 16 matches, with his overall wickets tally at 58. 'India have not been tested by any (England Lions) spinner in those four-day games they have played so far. Then, in that context, Bashir's height and his consistency has been so good.'
'He knows the conditions so well. He has been a genuine match-winner for England when it comes to spin-bowling because there are no other spinners in that particular England team who can trouble other batters. But then, he has been showing that consistency.'
'The best part about him is the control that he has - the field placements have been brilliant, and then, he gets that extra bounce and that nagging line like Nathan Lyon. So, I think he can be a surprise package for the England team, as Indian batters have been quite vulnerable when playing against good quality spin-bowling nowadays.'
'They (Indian batters) hardly play domestic cricket, and it is not played on turners because of the restrictions or play more on green tops in India. So England players might struggle against Kuldeep and Ravindra Jadeja. But we should not forget about Bashir, as he can be a surprise element for the England team against India,' concluded Raju.
Watch India tour of England from 3:30 pm, June 20 onwards live on Sony Sports Ten 1 & Sony Sports Ten 5 channels.
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