Absence Of Rohit, Virat Gives England Mental Boost, Could Galvanise Indian Team Too, Says Harmison

Absence of Rohit, Virat gives England mental boost, could galvanise Indian team too, says Harmison (Image Source: IANS)

World Test Championship: With the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the five-match Test series against England undoubtedly marks a new era for the Indian team led by Shubman Gill. Ironically, when India begins their new World Test Championship cycle against England in Leeds on June 20, it coincides with the day Kohli made his Test debut against the West Indies in 2011.

Steve Harmison, the former England fast bowler, has suggested that the Ben Stokes-led side gains a significant mental edge from the retirement of Rohit and Virat. At the same time, Harmison feels that the stalwart duo’s absence might similarly galvanise the Indian team and push them to play with increased intensity and cohesion.

“I think it gives (England) a mental boost to have no Rohit Sharma and no Virat Kohli. I think even though the two great players possibly weren't the great players they were five to ten years ago, the sight of Virat and Rohit being on a team sheet still holds a lot of weight. So with no great players as those two in the starting eleven, that also sometimes galvanises the team.”

“When great players go out of the team, sometimes it makes the dressing room a little bit easier to be in because you've now got somebody that's going to go out there and score all the runs for you. You're going to have to take some responsibility yourself. So that'll be the challenge from the India team's point of view.”

“From an England point of view, they're not seeing those great players. Yes, it will give them a boost, but it's still going to be a very, very strong India side to play against. I'm expecting a close series, but I think England are favourites because this series is in England,” said Harmison in an exclusive conversation with IANS, organised by talkSPORT.

While India have the experience of K.L. Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, as well as the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah and the excitement that Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Rishabh Pant bring to the table, England are also sporting a youthful look through cricketers like Harry Brook and Jamie Smith, along with Ollie Pope. They also have the experience of Joe Root and the world-class skipper Ben Stokes on the table.

Another factor that has been the talk of the town in England has been the increasingly ongoing dry weather this summer. At Headingley in Leeds, the venue for the series opener, there has hardly been rainy weather this year. Headingley has traditionally been a pacers' paradise, and the choice to bowl first to fully exploit the conditions seems prudent.

Harmison, who picked 226 wickets in 63 Tests for England, offers a thorough explanation of the ideal lines and lengths to stick to in England, especially in the face of increasingly flat pitches and weather playing more of peek-a-boo.

“Well, the ideal lengths to bowl in England will differ from venue to venue – it’s such a unique place to come and play where sometimes you look at the sky rather than look at the pitch to see whether the ball's going to deviate either way laterally or have bounce.”

“There are a lot of times when you've seen during the World Test Championship final when the clouds came in, and the skill level of the bowlers in that game became frightening. Then, when the sunshine came and there was not a cloud in the sky, the same bowlers looked very, very flat and the pitch became very good for batting.”

“So I think both sides are going to have to be patient when the clouds come over because it's inevitable that will happen in England. It's going to be about what you can do in batting or how aggressive you can play. When it becomes tough and the elements like the weather come in, then you're going to have to soak the pressure up and realise that the bowler will have passages of play to be on top.”

“But, more often than not, in England, the lengths that you bowl are a little bit fuller. You risk being driven, especially if you've got the ball when it's newer and especially now with the way the modern-day player plays, try and keep the stumps in play, try and challenge the top of the off stump because if you do that and the ball moves, you've got every chance of creating pressure and hooping it from a bowler's point of view so that the batsman cracks,” he elaborated.

Though Harmison anticipates the upcoming series to be a spectacle of batting teams filled with breathtaking performances, he signed off by desiring for a bowler to win the Player of the Series honour.

“Though it will be a great series, and showcase a great spectacle of batting units who will play very aggressively and look to entertain, I think the bowler that stands up on either side will be the one who wins the series.”

“So it wouldn't surprise me if Man of the Series is a bowler because they will be the difference between the two sides, who have very, very aggressive batting units and want to score. But I think the class of bowlers will stand out - whether it's Woakes, Carse, Bashir in the first Test match or my eyes, Thakur, Bumrah, Krishna, and Siraj, they're the Indian bowling unit for me - the ones that are going to try and win that first Test match to get either side off to a good start,” he said.

“Though it will be a great series, and showcase a great spectacle of batting units who will play very aggressively and look to entertain, I think the bowler that stands up on either side will be the one who wins the series.”

Article Source: IANS