India to target Alastair Cook’s shaky form

Tourists keen to take on out-of-sorts England in first Test.

NOTTINGHAM:

India are determined England captain Alastair Cook remains on the defensive in the first Test at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge starting on Wednesday.

Cook, upon whose leadership officials have staked plenty after ditching former star batsman Kevin Pietersen following the 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia, has now gone more than a year since making the last of his England record 25 Test hundreds.

And with England recently going down 1-0 to Sri Lanka after a 100-run defeat at Headingley, Cook’s tactics have come in for severe criticism.

India have made no secret of their intention to target Cook in what will be their first five-Test series in England for 55 years.

“Everyone goes through that phase where they don’t score runs,” said India batsman Virat Kohli. “But because he has the captaincy as well, that might be troubling him a little more.

“We would like to keep him under pressure,” added the talented 25-year-old on his first Test tour of England, and in whom so many India hopes have been invested following the retirement of all-time great Sachin Tendulkar.

India’s away record a solace for England

One consolation for England is India’s atrocious away record.

India haven’t won an overseas Test since defeating the West Indies in June 2011, a run now stretching to 10 losses in 14 matches, including successive 4-0 whitewashes in England, in 2011, and Australia.

If Cook needed a sympathetic ear, he could do worse than turn to India captain MS Dhoni, whose captaincy during this year’s series loss in New Zealand was labelled ‘obnoxious’ by former skipper Sourav Ganguly.

India’s problems abroad are exemplified by Dhoni’s form; with the dynamic wicketkeeper-batsman scoring just 1,174 runs at an average of 32.61 and no hundreds in 23 away Tests as captain.

Pietersen highlights Swann’s absence

Former batsman Kevin Pietersen thinks England could be in for a particularly tough Test series at home to India in the absence of Graeme Swann.

Off-spinner Swann’s retirement during England’s 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia has left Cook’s side without a specialist slow bowler, given the selectors refusal to recall Monty Panesar.

Swann took 255 wickets in 60 Tests and was a mainstay of the attack.

“Cook struggles to captain the side when opposition batsmen become established because he cannot toss the ball to Swann, who could defend and attack in equal measure,” Pietersen wrote in his column in Tuesday’s Daily Telegraph.

“The Indians respect Swann hugely, they think he is a fantastic bowler and I know they are licking their lips about facing any other English spinner who bowls to them.”

Meanwhile, England had an injury scare to contend with ahead of the Test when Jos Buttler was called up as cover for wicketkeeper Matt Prior on Tuesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2014.

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