India vs England: 'If Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley continue to play like this..' Monty Panesar predicts series outcome

England have an early advantage in the ongoing five-match Test series against India, and should Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley maintain in this form, England could go all the way and win the series 5-0, feels former spinner Monty Panesar. Pope scored a century in the second innings to lead England to 420 while Hartley claimed a seven-fer to finish with figures of 7/92 as England defeated India by 28 runs in the first Test in Hyderabad. “If Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley continue to play like this, it will be a whitewash, 5-0 for England. It can happen if they keep up this level of performance,” Panesar told news agency ANI. Panesar went onto say that the win over India was a big one given that nobody expected England to go all the way and win it. He even compared the victory to winning a World Cup title. “It was one of the famous wins England have ever produced overseas. It feels like we’ve won the World Cup,” said Panesar. England’s last Test series win on Indian soil came back in 2012, when Alastair Cook’s men and had come from behind to win  the series 2-1. No other team has beaten India in a Test series at home ever since. Also read: Steve Harmison says Rohit Sharma’s captaincy got ‘caught wanting’ Panesar feels India are missing Virat Kohli big time. Kohli has withdrawn from the first two Tests due to personal reasons. “If Virat Kohli was playing he would have been in the faces of these England players and told them ‘Hey, do it again let’s see how good you are’. This is an England team who are not scared of losing, they don’t scare if they lose. In the next four games, they (England) would still play without the fear of failure,” said Panesar. “Virat Kohli has that presence and intensity, which is missing currently in the India team. Virat Kohli has that aura and presence. If England win the next Test match then India will be in big trouble. This is a big moment for Rohit Sharma, he needs to show that he can turn around the match without Virat Kohli,” added the 41-year-old. The second Test will be played in Visakhapatnam from 2 February.