India hungry for England revenge
England jet into Mumbai on Monday under new captain Alastair Cook,
striving to win their first Test series in India in 27 years against a
home team desperate to make amends for last year's 4-0 drubbing.
The four-Test series, starting in Ahmedabad on November 15, will be
further spiced up by Kevin Pietersen's return to the England fold after
his exile and hints that Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar is on the brink
of retirement.
The series gives the home side an opportunity to make amends for the
humiliating 4-0 whitewash in England last year that saw them dethroned
as the number one Test side -- and their replacement by England.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team then suffered another 4-0 defeat in
Australia, capping a miserable six-month period that took the shine off
India's 50-over World Cup triumph in 2011.
But with the series against England followed by four Tests against
Australia in February-March, India, ranked fifth in the world, will look
to take advantage of familiar conditions to haul themselves back up the
rankings. Dhoni has urged groundsmen to prepare wickets that suit spin
bowling and selectors refused to pick a spinner for England's three-day
opener in Mumbai from Tuesday, denying the tourists early exposure to
the turning ball.
"When we go to England, we get wickets that help the seamers and in
Australia you get tracks with bounce," said Dhoni.
AFP |