Anil Kumble Warns Indian Team About Underestimating England
Ahead of the start of the five-match Test series against England, Indian coach Anil Kumble warns our team about underestimating opponents. India has lost the last three Test series to England (2011 and 2014 in England and in 2012 series at home) but Kumble does not want to dwell on the past.
Indian coach Anil Kumble has warned his side about taking England lightly in their upcoming Test series. Kumble wants his team to execute plans exactly like they did against New Zealand.
“Every player is looking forward to this series. Immediate performance matters. That is the confidence we would like to take into the series. New Zealand was a hard-fought series. The results show 3-0 but we exactly know how hard it was. It was really nice that all three surfaces were different. The team adapted well to conditions. That is our strength. We are certainly looking at opposition is strength and weaknesses” said Kumble.
Anil Kumble reminded about England quality side. He said: “Alastair Cook has been here on a number of occasions. he is a quality player. Joe Root. Also, their bowling attacks something that has troubled us in past. How we can measure up to whatever we set out to do.They’re both very good, but if we concentrate on just two of their players that would be the wrong way to go,” he said.
“You can look at history and look at that series the way you want to. But it’s a totally different England team that’s here. For us, what’s important is that we’ve been playing Test cricket — seven matches in a row and we’ve seen the development.
Kumble said that Rajkot strip looked a good surface. “This is the first Test match happening at Rajkot. It is a new stadium. We have played ODIs and T20 but in Tests, we don’t know how the wicket will be. It looks a good surface. We still have a couple of days to go for the combination.”
England will play a five-Test series in the sub-continent which also marks the first ‘five-Test’ series in India after 29 years. India and England will play a crucial Test series beginning November 9 in Rajkot.