England spinner Graeme Swann believes that dashing batsman Kevin Peitersen, who has been included in the team after the patch up with authorities, will have a very important role to play in the Test series against India. According to media reports, Swann says: "Pietersen is always going to be a fairly polarising character because of the way he is. But there is no reason why he cannot be part of a very successful England team, and be a very successful part of that team."
Meanwhile, with Indian pitches known for being spin-friendly surfaces, Swann is set to play a key role with the ball having recently returned to India after a brief break from the tour in order to spend time with his family after his daughter, who is only a few weeks old, was taken ill.
According to The Times Of India report, prior to what is billed as the 'revenge series' for India, England wicket-keeper Matt Prior on Tuesday said that the tourists are well prepared for the tough challenge of taming the hosts.
"We have given ourselves the best chance, we have prepared as well as we can. It's now down to performing on the pitch. It's a tough challenge for all of us," he said ahead of the opening Test commencing at the Motera here on November 15.
"Coming over here, we had a long preparation. We have been able to play a lot of cricket on these types of wickets. We are now ready after getting used to the heat, the spinning tracks, the traffic. We are going into the Test match feeling fully prepared," he declared.
Meanwhile Hindustan Times writes that when the opening day of the India v England series gets under way at Ahmedabad on Thursday morning, there will be much more at stake for the hosts than the fate of this particular series. India will be led by a captain who has retained his position despite presiding over our worst trot in Tests overseas in nearly half a century (we lost 0-4 in England, and by the same margin in Australia).
“It will rely on two openers – Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir – who, if statistics are anything to go by, are in decline. With Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman gone, only Sachin Tendulkar remains of the famed Fab Four. The middle order is new: Chiteshwar Pujara is trying to establish his credentials; Virat Kohli, while having been spectacular in his brief international career, is still young in Test cricket; and Yuvraj Singh, a clean hitter and a sweet timer of the ball, once seen to be not dependable enough in Test cricket, is trying to make a fairy tale comeback. The bowling spearhead, Zaheer Khan, is blunted by injury; there is doubt if he has it in him to last a full Test series. And while Ravinchandran Ashwin has a tremendous strike rate at home, most of his wickets have come against the world’s worst two Test sides – New Zealand and the West Indies,” says the report, adding that MS Dhoni has an opportunity that few captains would have been offered.
“He can make the most of it. Moreover, it is from the precariousness and uncertainty of such troubling times that true grit is born, that a team clicks into place and hits its stride, the whole becoming greater than the sum of the parts. Now is the time for India to redeem itself.”