Pope, Bumrah, Bashir – how England v India will be won and lost

First Test between England and India

Venue: Headingley Dates: 20-24 June Time: 11: 00 BST

On Friday, England play their first Test match of the series against India at Headingley.

Ben Stokes’ side and a new-look India square off in a five-game match that features superstar players from both sides in a brimming of intrigue.

The status quo was the subject of England’s biggest, and probably only, selection decision for the first Test. Ollie Pope, the long-term number three, has been turned down by Jacob Bethell’s potential.

England’s vice-captain needs to be consistent. An average of 43.06 at first drop is more than respectable, but Pope frequently veers between feast and famine.

Pope made three centuries in 2024, including an all-time record-breaking 196 to help India defeat India in Hyderabad. Pope did not pass 10 of his 27 previous top-seven innings, more than any other top-seven batter in the same period.

It extends Pope’s career’s scope. In 98 innings, the 27-year-old has scored 3 301 runs, but only 34% of those runs have been knocked. Pope can cash in when he enters. With an 18.4 false-shot percentage, which is the highest of any regular Test number three in the previous six years, the problem is with the getting in.

The bad news for Pope is that Indian magician Jasprit Bumrah is about to confront one of his foes. Although Pope is not the only fast bowler in the world to struggle against, Ravichandran Ashwin, a retired Indian off-spinner, has only been the seven times he has been dismissed by Bumrah.

7 to 8 meters from the stumps, the length that Pope struggles most with pace in this country, is most frequently targeted by Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, who is likely to be his new-ball partner.

There is perhaps no other person on either side who is more capable than the India paceman to win the series on their own. Bumrah, who is the best cricket player in the world, is pound for pound and has compiled a career that will make him one of the best fast bowlers.

The outcome may depend on how England plays or survives in Bumrah. Although the extra time between the first and third Tests could mean Bumrah sneaks in a fourth, the India management has indicated he may only play three of the five.

Surprisingly, Bumrah only has played 12 home Tests. 31 of his 45 caps have been spent traveling throughout South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia. He has 145 wickets, more than any other India bowler, and almost three-quarters of his total, which is the “SENA” nations’ most adept at fast bowling.

Bumrah was devastating in brief, sharp bursts last year when England traveled to India. He took 19 wickets with a strike-rate under 33 in the four Tests he played, bowling less than 104 overs. Every spell was thrilling, much like Mitchell Johnson’s 2013-2014 Ashes tear.

Therefore, the way that England approachs the rest of their bowling for India might be the key to their success.

The rest of the pace attack, aside from Siraj, is made up of all-rounders Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar both have Test experience in this country, and their career average in England is above 44.

Shoaib Bashir, the fourth of four England spinners, was spotted by Ben Stokes in a clip on X eighteen months ago.

He is happy to admit that he is just beginning to learn his trade and will face the best spinners on the planet at the moment when he becomes England’s first-choice spinner.

All of India’s batters have proven themselves strong against off-spinners, including the left-handers, who would typically give Bashir a favorable match-up. In fact, Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal are the most likely targets for Bashir.

India generally prefers to display off-spin aggression. India has attacked 38% of off-spinner deliveries since the start of the year, trailing only the Bazballing English, who received 53% of balls from offies. The outcome is what makes a difference. India had a 60 on average, which was significantly higher than England’s 36.

In the defeat of Zimbabwe, Bashir took nine wickets despite having an unsatisfactory winter that looked to have benefited from some technical adjustments. He bowls a better line and is thus getting closer to the stumps.

While the entire squad has a collective lack of first-class cricket in this country, Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, and Karun Nair would all be playing their first Test in England. Only Nair and KL Rahul in the UK average more than 40 against the red ball, with the majority of Nair’s and Northants’ cricket appearing in the County Championship.

Indian batters frequently view the movement of the Dukes ball as their final frontier, despite the fact that English conditions frequently challenge them to control the movement of the ball.

The importance of length has been present in the top three players in India who have previously played Tests in England, Rahul, Gill, Pant, and Jadeja. In this country, they average only 14 against a good length, rising to 42 against a shorter, hard length collectively.

In a Test in this country, no member of the quartet has ever been let down by a bouncer, which highlights the importance of Chris Woakes, or perhaps Sam Cook in comparison to the other pacemen preferred by England.

Despite all the analysis, match-ups, and hunches, India’s UK tour shows frequently come up with controversy or off-field issues that alter the series’ direction.

India outscored England in the 2021 World Cup, and the fifth Test was postponed due to a Covid scare. When India returned a year later to finish the series, England pushed them to a record 378 to level the score at 2-2.

Further back, there was the Ian Bell “run out” at the same venue in 2011 and the row between Jadeja and James Anderson at Trent Bridge in 2014. The Oval hosted “Jellybeangate” for India’s final series victory in this location in 2007.

After arguing with tour captain Mohammad Azharuddin, India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu exited the tour in 1996. Sudhir Naik was detained in 1974 after allegedly stealing a pair of socks from the Marks &amp, Spencer store in Oxford Street.