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Former England captain Nasser Hussain recently stated that the test series against India would be the toughest opposition for Ben Stokes’s team. Hussain especially pointed out the difficulty of competing in a Test series against India when they’re at home. The English team will complete a tour of India for a five-match test series early next year. The BCCI released the schedule recently and revealed that the first match will be held in Hyderabad on January 25th.
England staged a wonderful comeback against Australia to tie the Ashes to 2-2, leading to the greatest appreciation among cricket fans for the ‘bazball’ style of play. The team has now successfully deployed ‘bazball’ against New Zealand, Pakistan, and now Australia. But, according to former skipper Nasser Hussain, their toughest test is actually next year when they tour India. Team India hasn’t lost a test series at home since 2012, and are renowned for being especially dominant on home soil. Despite this, Hussain also said that ‘bazball’ had been questioned at every step and somehow kept performing up to expectations.
Speaking about the Indian challenge, Nasser said on the ICC Review on Thursday , “It’s the next test for Bazball. They said Bazball will work against one side, then they moved on to the next side. Then they moved on to New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan.”
He added, “India in India is one of the sternest challenges in Test match cricket. It's Bazball against spin. Bazball against Ravi Ashwin, (Ravindra) Jadeja, and Axar Patel and that is going to be fascinating.”
Hussain says not to count out Jimmy Anderson
Now that Stuart Broad has retired, Hussain thinks Jimmy Anderson will play a key role in the Indian tour. The legendary pacer has had a run of poor form, but Hussain thinks he still has it in him to perform in India. He said, “Listen, Jimmy's had a bad or an average couple of months, but you are a fool if you're writing off Jimmy Anderson. I spoke to him in an interview and he was like, the hunger is still there. He's already thinking about how to get back to his best.
England will be feeling the loss of two veterans Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad, both who have retired recently. Despite these losses and Chris Woakes opting out of the series, Hussain still thinks England have enough options to conquer India.
