Gus Atkinson becomes England's new bigmouth; fires warning to Rohit Sharma and team India

India and England will face each other in a five-match Test series starting January 25. England fast-bowler Gus Atkinson remarked that his focus will be on bowling short and sharp spells against India in their upcoming Test series. India has not lost any home Test series since the defeat against England in 2012 where Alastair Cook led the side to a 2-1 win against the hosts.

The two teams will clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad for the first match of the series. England will be playing their second Test series in the current WTC cycle having drawn the Ashes 2023 by 2-2 against Australia.

The England team is currently eighth on the WTC table whereas India is second on the table just behind Australia who are at the top after a 3-0 win against Pakistan.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo ahead of the Test series against India, Gus Atkinson elaborated on his focus on bowling short and sharp spells in India and said that he will be playing the role of an impact bowler in the series. Gus Atkinson, who has made his ODI and T20I debut for England received his maiden call-up for the Test side visiting India for the five-match series.

“People talk about your pace and you get picked because you can bowl quick. You have to, and you want to, bowl quick, so that’s definitely something that I’m going to focus on. Short, sharp spells in India are probably the way I imagine it going. Sort of an impact bowler,” said Atkinson.

Gus Atkinson Wants To Play The Role Of Impact Bowler

He went on to say that Test cricket is the pinnacle while calling his maiden Test call-up exciting. Gus Atkinson is the only player in England’s Test squad to face India who also featured in the ODI World Cup squad as well as both legs of their West Indies tour.

He has had a busy few months with the England National Cricket Team but with his first-ever Test call-up, he is hoping to make a Test debut and hopefully help his team to win the series against a team who is yet to taste defeat at home in the past twelve years.

“Test cricket is the one that you look at as a kid and think, yeah, that’s the pinnacle. But, you know, I try to stay as level as possible and just sort of treat a call-up as a call-up, which is obviously an exciting thing,” Atkinson added.

The Indian squad for the five-match Test series included Virat Kohli but he has opted out of the first two Tests which means that the Indian Team needs to announce the replacement soon for the batting maestro.

Both Rohit Sharma and Ben Stokes are yet to lose a Test series for their sides which is a huge achievement but only one of the two captains can take the record to themselves as the chances of a series draw in India are meek.

England Squad For The Five-Match Test Series Against India: Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Shoaib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood,