Andy Flower humiliates England without making prediction for IND vs ENG Test series

Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower believes that India is a favorite to win the upcoming five-match Test series against England. Andy Flower highlighted that he would be surprised if the Ben Stokes-led team manages to defeat India in their home conditions.

Andy Flower served as England’s coach when they last won a Test series in India in 2012. However, since then, the Three Lions have struggled to secure Test victories in India. The visiting team has managed only one win in their last nine Test matches on Indian soil.

The England team suffered a 0-4 loss in the five-match Test series in 2016 under Alastair Cook’s captaincy. They managed to secure victory in the first Test of their previous tour in 2021. However, the home team bounced back and won the remaining three matches.

Joe Root Would Be The Most Successful In India – Andy Flower

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Andy Flower emphasized India‘s outstanding performance in their home conditions. Flower acknowledged the danger posed not only by India’s spinners but also by their outstanding seamers.

“I am not doing prediction, but I would be surprised if England beat India in India. They are an outstanding and confident side in their own conditions, very well coached by Rahul Dravid. India has an outstanding attack. We talk a lot about their spinners, but their seamers are outstanding too and we must not underplay the danger they hold,” said Flower.

“I would say Root would be the most successful in India. I love his game and he is a very important guy for England. In the Indian batting line-up, I am not sure. I will reserve my judgment,” he added.

The Indian selectors have included four spinners, namely Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav, for the first two Tests. Jasprit Bumrah will lead the pace attack, which also includes Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan.

Bazball Approach Has Surprised Me – Andy Flower

Andy Flower expressed surprise at the success of England’s Test side under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s leadership. Flower stated that he is looking forward to witnessing this interesting battle between England’s Bazball and India’s skilled bowlers.

“It has surprised me. It’s been great to watch. Even when I was involved with Australia during the last Ashes, I felt it was really interesting cricket. There’s a lot happening quite quickly. It’s going to be fascinating to watch the very interesting tussle between India’s class bowlers – both spinners and seamers — and the English batting line-up that is going to attack. I’m looking forward to it,” Flower stated.

England has adopted the Bazball approach under Stokes-McCullum tenure. The team has achieved success with their aggressive batting approach, winning 13 out of 18 Tests. They managed to draw a 2-2 Ashes 2023 series against Australia in their last series.

The first Test match of the highly anticipated series is scheduled to be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, starting on January 25. The BCCI may prepare turning tracks in the upcoming series to challenge England’s batters.

Also read: In a historic statement, Andy Flower is frightened more from Indian pacers than spinners ahead of Test Series