Legendary Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar said that India will have an edge over England in the upcoming Test series if the hosts win the first Test match but also said that the Indian batting line-up looks a bit shaky, says a report in The Hindu.
“I have always believed that home teams have an edge. They are familiar with the conditions. They are able to be in the surroundings they are comfortable in. You know the pitch conditions. In 2011, England very vulnerable, Australia were very vulnerable. The first Test becomes an important factor,” he said.
“England won the first Test and Australia won the first Test. You derive strength from that. If India wins the first Test, I don’t think England will be able to come back,” he added.
Gavaskar said that the batting line-up looks shaky following the retirement of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman and also with the bad form the Indian openers are in.
“The batting looks a bit shaky. The opening pair’s form doesn’t look that good. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have retired. Cheteshwar Pujara is new. The batting looks a bit weakened to what we had earlier. Just now the season has started... if the players are in form then even we can score 500-600 runs. In bowling Umesh Yadav is new. Pragyan Ojha and R Ashwin’s combination has not become that popular. It is not the same attack we had a couple of years ago,” he said.
Meanwhile, The Times of India reports that Gavaskar feels Tendulkar is too good a batsman not to have overcome any technical shortcomings.
"I think he has worked on it. He is one of the most hardworking and studious guys you can come across. I think Sachin (Tendulkar) would have had enough time to think about how he got out. If he has got the runs now he must have worked on it and the evidence will be there in the Tests. But the very fact that he has got runs now is a very good sign,” he said.