Sports reporter(wp/es):
England
started their sub-continental odyssey with a win against Bangladesh in
Chittagong. However, much improvement will be required in the Second
Test, starting tomorrow, if they are to move on to India with
confidence.
The stakes will be high for Alastair Cook and his players
here in Dhaka, not only because they will want to avoid becoming the
first England team to lose to Bangladesh in 10 Tests but because they
know even victory in this series will mean little when they arrive in
Mumbai in the middle of next week.
Despite Bangladesh’s recent improvements, evidenced by their
spirited performance in an opening Test they lost by just 22 runs, they
are still the ninth-ranked team in the world.
England came perilously close to losing in Chittagong
because the shortcomings that were so obvious before they left home for a
tour that will see them play seven Tests before Christmas were plain
for all to see again.
To win consistently in Asia a team need two things — a
reliable top-order batting line-up and a world-class spinner. Unlike
2012, when England won in India for the first time in 27 years, they
have neither.
Back then three of the top four in Cook, in his first tour
as full-time Test captain, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen averaged
above 40 in the series. They were backed up by the spin pairing of
Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, who took 37 wickets between in the
series.
This time, England’s top four is their Achilles heel, with
the collapses in Chittagong to 21 for three in the first innings and 46
for four in the second almost costing them the game.
Cook is still there, of course, and in Joe Root England have
another batsman whose quality is beyond question. But when both fail,
it exposes the rest of a fragile top four.
Judgement must be reserved on Ben Duckett, who made scores of 14 and 15 opening against spin in his first Test.
However, Gary Ballance has no excuse. The Yorkshire batsman
averages just 22 since coming back into the side last summer and, short
on confidence following that fallow run, he needs a significant score
from No4 in Dhaka to save his Test career. England cannot rely on the
middle order runs of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow to bail them out as
they did in Chittagong every time. India’s spinners will seize on any
weaknesses during the five Tests that await, starting in Rajkot on
November 9. And their batsmen, led by captain Virat Kohli, will also see
the spin-bowling department as a significant weakness.
Moeen Ali was the best of England’s spinners in the opening
Test. But neither him, Gareth Batty nor Adil Rashid will worry India.
Zafar Ansari, who will make his Test debut in Dhaka, falls under the
same category.
Yet England’s spinners can bowl better and at least head to India with confidence with an improved display.
That much is at least required given there are no warm-up
matches between now and Rajkot. Dhaka will be England’s final dress
rehearsal for a series that will see them not only face a team who are
ranked No1 in the world but who have not lost a home Test since England
won in Kolkata four years ago.
In between they have won 12 of 13 matches, whitewashing
Australia 4-0, New Zealand 3-0 and West Indies 2-0. South Africa also
lost 3-0 in India this time last year, with a washed out Test sparing
them a whitewash. England will get no favours in India, who are
determined to avenge their defeat of 2012.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan warned this week: “If they perform like they did against Bangladesh, it’ll be 5-0.”
Vaughan is not known for understatement but on this he might
be right. Forget winning for now, England will need to improve
significantly if they are to even compete in India. Those improvements
must start tomorrow.
