Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has aired his predictions for the forthcoming Test series between India and England, starting Wednesday at Trent Bridge.
The former opener said that Virat Kohli’s side will come out triumphant in the series either by 4-0 or 3-0 scoreline depending on the conditions; importantly, he believes that the visitors will annihilate the hosts and India will register their first Test series win on England shores since 2007.
Sunil Gavaskar pointed out how “brittle” England’s batting was against New Zealand a couple of months ago as Joe Root’s side lost their first home Test series in 7 years.
“My prediction is, if again this time I am making it contingent (on) to the weather… if the hot conditions are there, hot conditions are there for 22 out of possible 25 days, then I think India will win 4-0,” Sunil Gavaskar was quoted as saying by news18.com.
“In case you have a situation where the weather is going to be a factor, then I think India will win 3-1, but I think India will still go on to win, because England is now a very depleted side, and their batting, as we saw in the series against New Zealand, is being brittle,” he added.
Virat Kohli will come out triumphs over James Anderson: Sunil Gavaskar
A contest within the contest to watch out for would be that of Virat Kohli and James Anderson, two maestros in their field who have given fans some captivating moments during the 2014 and 2018 series. While Anderson humbled Kohli in the 2014 series – 4 dismissals for 19 runs – the Indian captain had his revenge on the 2018 tour – scoring 114 runs off the pacer without being dismissed even once off him – albeit being a bit lucky.
Sunil Gavaskar is backing Kohli to have a dominant hand this time around.
“Looking at the way Kohli adapted in 2018, looking at the way he was so certain around off-stump, his shot selection was so immaculate… “… I just think Anderson as a fast bowler getting three-year older and Virat Kohli getting three years more experienced, and I think batsmen are at their peak around this 28-33-34, I do believe that Virat Kohli will come out triumphs like he did in 2018,” the 72-year-old contended.