Sourav Ganguly predicts India vs England Test series results, calls it a tough series
Ollie Pope’s unbeaten 148* at the end of the third day’s play gave England a fighting chance in a fascinating Test match against India which is the first Test of the five-match series being played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday.
England ended on 316/6 after the end of Day 3 and are currently leading by 126 runs. However, Sourav Ganguly has predicted the winner of this ongoing Test series between India and England.
Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin took two wickets each for India and Jadeja and Axar got one wicket each. Jasprit Bumrah was phenomenal with the ball and is currently the only fast bowler who has taken wickets in this match.
He clean-bowled England opener Ben Duckett and then trapped Joe Root on the pads to get an LBW. Ravichandran Ashwin got Zak Crawley and skipper Ben Stokes whereas Axar Patel got Ben Foakes and Jadeja bowled the dangerous Jonny Bairstow.
At the start of the fourth day, Ollie Pope crossed the 150-run mark. His innings have been the only big positive for England in the ongoing Test match. The vice-captain has given England a chance to fight in what looked like a one-sided encounter before his innings progressed. The Indian bowling unit needs to take three more wickets to end the England innings and they would hope to get them all out before the lead gets to 250.
Meanwhile, former BCCI president and ex-India skipper Sourav Ganguly made a massive prediction on the ongoing five-match Test series. “India will win the series, the matter is whether they will win it 4-0 or 5-0. Every Test will be decisive. England could have won this Test match had they batted well. One cannot win against India by making 230 or 240 runs on Indian soil. Had they made 350 or 400, they could have beaten India, but they weren’t able to do that. It’s a tough series for England. Any team other than the Australia of that era could not create any impact here,” he said.
The Bazball Approach Won’t Work In India, Feels Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly also feels that England’s Bazball approach won’t work in the first Test, due to its fast manner. He also felt that the rank turners in the subcontinent tracks don’t complement Bazball.
England was bowled out for 246 in the first innings and then India scored 436 in their first innings laying back on the knocks by KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja was the star for India with the bat and ball as the all-rounder took three wickets in the first innings and then scored 87 off 180 deliveries with the bat.
Jasprit Bumrah has been phenomenal with the ball as he got Rehan Ahmed caught behind at the start of the fourth day’s play. He has taken three wickets in the innings and five wickets in the match and is currently the only pacer to have taken wickets in the match as both Mark Wood and Mohammed Siraj are wicketless as of now.
The hosts need three more wickets to all out England and they will hope to do it soon as anything above 2500 in the fourth innings will be trouble for the Indian batters.
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