Nottingham: Devoid of experience but propped up by a confident bunch of youngsters, India will look to wipe off the past scars and reverse their poor overseas record when they take on England in a five-Test series starting here on Wednesday.
It is a great opportunity for a young visiting side as they play five back-to-back Tests in this hectic 42-day series.
Under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s last overseas Test win had come against the West Indies at Kingston in June 2011. Since then they have gone on to lose 0-8 in two tours to England and Australia.
Their Test form against England has really seen a downward curve in the last two encounters as after the 0-4 embarrassment, they suffered a humiliating 1-2 loss at home in the 2012-13 season. However, things have changed a lot for the hosts since then. Their current Test squad bears a dissimilar look to the ones that dismantled India with such ease in their last two meetings.
Cricketers who really shone in those encounters are either suffering from poor form or fatigue — Alastair Cook, Stuart Broad, James Anderson — while some — Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott have vanished from the scene altogether.
If there is an R-word this Indian team is looking for, however, then it is redemption. The 18-man squad bears a completely different look to the one that toured in 2011 or played at home in 2012-13.
Only Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma played here three summers ago, while the others who stepped into the team during the latter series were taking a first step in their respective international careers.
For long, Dhoni has searched for a medium-pacer all-rounder to deploy overseas and Stuart Binny looks like the answer to his prayers.
The Karnataka player has enjoyed a long work-out in the two practice games at Leicester and Derbyshire, ahead of the likes of Rohit Sharma and R. Ashwin. For, these are the two players who will certainly miss out if Binny comes into consideration.
Despite his troubles in the warm-up matches, Ishant Sharma will probably be selected on account of his past experience in these conditions, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami giving him company.
