Why England are still afraid of India, why indeed…

“Playing the world champions in their own back yard, it doesn’t get much tougher than that,” said England skipper Alastair Cook when he was asked about the challenges of playing India at home. When you consider that he is leading a side that blanked India in England recently, you are inclined to believe that he’s basically dishing out a bunch of marketing drivel. The troubles India had in England had a lot to do with form and injuries. And the truth is that the problems continue to persist. They are still missing half of the squad that won the World Cup and the replacements, from what was on view in the Irani Trophy and otherwise, are not upto the mark either. So why is Cook trying to imply that England are in for a tough time? Does the world champions tag carry so much weight? Or are they simply awed by India’s home record. Since 2000, India have lost precious few series at home. In 13 ODI series during the last decade, they’ve lost just three – two of them to Australia, in 2009-10 and 2006-07, and one to West Indies, way back in 2002-03. South Africa managed to draw a series in 2005-06. [caption id=“attachment_99105” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Alastair Cook shouldn’t be too afraid of India. Reuters/Philip Brown[/caption] Everyone else – including good ODI teams like Sri Lanka, South Africa and especially England have lost. England lost 5-0 when they visited India last time round in 2008-09 thanks to Yuvraj Singh (325 runs at 108.33) and Virender Sehwag (314 runs at 62.80). Before that, in the 2005-06 season, England managed to win just one match on their way to 5-1 drubbing. In the 2001-02 season, though, they had some luck. They managed to tie the six-match series 3-3. So in their last three tours of India, England have won 4 matches and lost 13. Include the World Cup and we have a tied match to add to the mix. But is that record, reason enough to be fearful? After all, it’s all in the past. Shouldn’t recent events count for more? India’s pace attack is out of sync – there is no Zaheer Khan or Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar won’t be half as good in India – there is no swing, the spin attack is inexperienced – there is no Harbhajan. Even the batting will depend heavily on youngsters – Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh are all missing. And the captain, M S Dhoni has been pleading for a chance to rest his weary bones but to no avail. India are not in a state of transition – rather they’ve reached a point of desperation; a point where they can’t afford to lose anymore. In terms of effort, Dhoni’s men will probably throw the kitchen sink at the Englishmen but it takes more than just effort to win an ODI – it takes skill. Does India have that in the current squad? By most estimates, no but Dhoni and Co know what it takes to win in India – they showed that by winning the World Cup. But that now seems like a different age; a different time. Rather than be fearful, the Englishmen should be aware that this is probably their best chance to win in India. In a sense, it will be tough… but only because for a change, they will be expected to win.