The side under the leadership of Brendon McCullum & Ben Stokes has been a force to reckon with particularly in English conditions. The much-awaited blockbuster 5 Test match series of England & India commences on 20th June. Former Australia coach Darren Lehmann though believes that England are sure shot favorites to win the Pataudi Trophy.
India though has had the wood over England recently after thrashing them in the white-ball leg just before ICC CT 2025. In the 2024 Test series in India, Rohit Sharma’s unit had come out flying colors & won the series by 4-1 after losing the opening Test match. We should not forget that Virat Kohli wasn’t a part of the series (*had opted for leave) as the youngsters stepped in & excelled in tricky conditions.
Darren Lehmann backs England to outclass India
Darren Lehmann was having an interaction with Sky Sports. The World Cup winning coach indirectly pointed out that winning in England won’t be an easy task for India Lehmann stated that England will be invincible in their home summer across all the formats.
“India are a very good cricket team but England will win at home. That’s just what happens. I think they will dominate the summer and put a lot of questions to bed – then get to Australia where the real questions start. They will bounce back as a one-day side and I don’t think they will lose a game this summer,” said Darren Lehmann.
Stern Test awaits for Rohit Sharma
India hasn’t won a Test series in England since 2007 when Rahul Dravid was the skipper & team had won the series by 1-0. The last 2 Test tours in England were quite productive but India didn’t get the results. In 2018, the scoreline was 1-4 & in 2021-22 the series was squared by 2-2 as the 5th Test match was played in 2022 due to the break-down of Covid-19.
The 2021-22 Test series was quite memorable. The then skipper Virat Kohli was marshaling the troops and the iconic win at Lord’s was the highlight of that series. BCCI will have to carefully manage the workload of Jasprit Bumrah, the speedster is nursing a back injury & making him play all 5 Test matches would be risky & career-threatening for him. Bumrah in BGT 2024-25 had taken 32 wickets & had created a fear in batters’ mind with his thunder-bolts & immaculate line and lengths.
There’s a lot at stake for Rohit Sharma who has had a dream run in ICC ODI tournaments as a skipper after winning T20 WC 2024 & ICC CT 2025. The recently concluded BGT 2024-25 was a forgettable one for Rohit who scored a mere 31 runs in 5 innings and had stepped down for 5th Test match for the betterment of the team. Skipper would take a leaf out of the 2021-22 England Test series where he amassed 368 runs in 8 innings.
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