



13th August 2007 is one of the most historic dates in Indian cricket, as it was the day when the 3rd test match between India and England came to an end. While the match was declared a draw, India ended up winning the series, having won the 2nd Test at Nottingham in grand fashion.Following the turn of the decade, however, India's record against England in Tests has been rather lacklustre. They lost 0-4 in England in 2011, followed by a humiliating 1-2 loss at home in 2012, and a 1-3 thrashing in England in 2014. However, with Virat Kohli taking up the captaincy of the national side, they were able to defeat England at home 4-0 in 2016-17. This article, however, focuses on the England tour of 2014, which included many players of the current team.The 2014 England tour is mainly known for the Indian team's struggles against the swinging and seaming new ball, and the lack of depth in their fast bowling department. The tour began on a bright note for India. A flat pitch in the 1st Test ensured that there wasn't much aid for the bowlers. Last wicket partnerships of 111 and 198 for India and England respectively, validated the same, and the match ended in a draw.The next Test saw the Indians create history at the Home of Cricket. Ajinkya Rahane scored a century in the first innings, and on the last day, the Lord's crowd watched in horror as Ishant Sharma skittled away the English lineup with a disciplined spell of short-pitched bowling. The joy was, however, short-lived.The next 3 Tests saw England bounce back magnificently, and the chief architect of this comeback was James Anderson. In the prime of his career at that time, the fast bowler proved to be too hot to be handled by the Indian top and middle order. He was extracting considerable movement in the air (swing) and off the pitch (seam). That, combined with the emergence of Moeen Ali as the main spinner, and Joe Root as the batting mainstay meant that India was never in the game. Such was the plight of the Indian batting, that they couldn't even score 200+ in the last 2 Tests, and the final innings of the 5th Test saw India being bowled out for 94. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, who wasn't known for his batting prowess till then, scored 113 runs more than Virat Kohli - that sums up their sorry state.: MS Dhoni was India's most successful captain, but he couldn't replicate his success in the Tests away from home. Out of 9 Tests in England, India won 1 and lost 7 while playing under him. His successor, Virat Kohli, has shown a lot of passion while leading the side. His ever-growing hunger to win matches has helped the team to grow in confidence, and this gets reflected into wins. India has won 21 out of 36 Tests under Kohli, and while many of them have been won at home, the current team definitely has a good record going into this series.Despite losing Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah to injury for the first half of the series, the Indian pace attack looks much better than what it was in 2014. Ishant Sharma is the experienced guy, and Umesh Yadav with his pace, and Mohammad Shami with his swing can wreck havoc. The bowling attack of the 2014 side was rather blunt, and that was the reason for the repeated failures.The biggest talking point of the 2014 series was the horrific form of Virat Kohli, who was clearly the best batsman going into the series. He scored just 134 runs in 10 innings, and was dismissed by James Anderson multiple times. Virat's natural game is attacking, and he loves to dominate the opposition bowling. Many a times, he gets dismissed while trying to play his shots, and this is the area he should focus his attention on. England pitches aren't as flat as Indian ones, and so, it's difficult to play an attacking game here. Virat should respect the conditions, and understand the value of his wicket. That is sort of maturity which should be displayed by the best batsman of the team, and it is something that Virat has worked on in the recent years. He has realized the importance of scoring big knocks; he did not have a double century in Tests till 2016, now he has six of them, thus proving that he is working on his game a lot. That said, one shouldn't worry a lot about his form this time around, because, as Harsha Bhogle rightly said, he is too good a player to fail again.- England has a mixed record coming into the series. Having beaten South Africa and West Indies at home in 2016-17, they faced one of the worst away seasons last year. Being completely outplayed in the Ashes 0-4, and then losing 0-1 in New Zealand, they were beaten by Pakistan at Lord's this May. Alastair Cook has had a large number of opening partners in the past few years, and he might get a new one in this series too. Joe Root's inability to convert half centuries into 100s recently has hurt the middle order, and the unpredictability of Ben Stokes and Johnny Bairstow has resulted into more instability. While James Anderson and Stuart Broad are the two opening bowlers, England lacks an experienced third fast bowler. Their two spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid haven't had a lot of game time in Tests recently. The controversy surrounding the selection of Adil Rashid, who had decided not to play Tests anymore, might cast a shadow over the team.Having said that, a 5-match Test series at home provides opportunities to young players to prove their potential, and England will be hoping for the same.- Many analysts and experts are saying that the Indian selectors have picked a very strong team for the first 3 Tests. Three good and experienced opening batsmen at the top of the order, and the same fulcrum of Pujara, Kohli and Rahane in the middle order means that the team will be more stable than their opponents. The fast bowling attack is already strong, and if Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar get fit in time, India will have fresh legs for the second half of the series. While the spin twins Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have also been picked, the selection of Kuldeep Yadav is a bold move. It will be interesting to see if Virat decides to go with Kuldeep, as the English batsmen failed to read his variations in the ODI series. Virat may also be tempted to play Rishabh Pant as the wicket keeper ahead of Dinesh Karthik, as Pant is an unknown commodity and may prove handy with his attacking game. Kohli is known for his surprising team selections in the past, and it won't be a surprise to see the captain back his statemate Rishabh to be part of the playing XI.The recent tour of South Africa this January has shown a lot of weaknesses that the team possesses, but this current team will have definitely worked on it, especially under Kohli. While on paper, this series will be one of the most closely fought battles in recent cricket history, what really happens on the field remains to be seen.....