England vs India, 2025 Will a dry english summer force Team India to play two Spinners in the Test series?
There has hardly been any rain in Headingley since February, and the opening week of the five-match red-ball series against Team India will mostly remain the same. Drizzle may occur during the second session of thethird day’s play, but the sun will mostly make its presence felt to the fullest.
The UK’s Met Office has addressed this May in England as the second-hottest in 142 years. In the same metric, April 2025 remains at the third position.
This has altered the nature of the surfaces in the country. Overhead conditions and sprinkle are consistent aspects even during summer months in England. That keeps the grass cover on pitches intact for a longer period, assisting the pacers more in cool conditions.
However, with high temperatures and dryness, grasses will get destroyed quickly. The seamers are anticipated to get less help once the shine comes off the new ball.
India’s tendency to pick 20 wickets
A few weeks ago, Shoaib Bashir celebrated nine wickets during the one-off Trent Bridge Test against Zimbabwe. He also earned the ‘Player of the Match’ award for this feat. Even Aiden Markram picked up two wickets at Lord’s during the WTC 2023-25 final against Australia.
Whenever the two-time WTC runners-up or any Asian country tours England, thefocus remains on seam bowling. Building fast bowlers becomes vital for red-ball trips in SENA countries, given that the environment doesn’t allow the spinners to play a major role.
Unlike the previous century, the Blue Brigade’s stocks in the pace department have gone up. That has led them to bring quality pacers in England in the form of Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Zaheer Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, and many more.
Since Virat Kohli became India’s captain of the five-day format, they have always tended towards five bowlers. The simple aim was to take 20 wickets with a combination of four pacers and one spinner or two spinners and three pacers. But the tendency remained crystal clear.
Even on the eve of the opening Leeds Test, the new captain, Shubman Gill, echoed the same approach. He gave the clear message of ‘can’t win a Test match without taking 20 wickets.’
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Pacers and spinners’ performance in England since 2021
Since the start of 2021, pacers have pocketed 794 red-ball wickets in England at an average of below 30. This has come at a strike rate of nearly 50 with 25 five-wicket hauls. Meanwhile, the spinners have grabbed 150 Test scalps in the same period at an average of 38.25.
There are four instances of India spinners picking seven or more wickets in a Test match in England since Jan 2001. Interestingly, it happened twice in 2018.
Bashir has picked up 24 red-ball wickets in seven Tests since Jan 2021 in England. Ben Stokes has always provided him with the attacking field to bowl in the right corridor. Jack Leach has also pocketed 20 Test scalps in eight games in this period. During the 2023 Ashes, Nathan Lyon registered nine wickets in three wickets before getting injured.
Due to England’s dry summer this year, the surfaces will start to break from the fourth day. The level of deterioration allows the spinners to be more effective in the subcontinent. For instance, the sun develops cracks in Australia. More than patches on the surface, in England, the pitches could get flattened out for long periods.
“I think what you’ve got to consider is we’ve had a very dry summer here so far. There’s been hardly any rain for the last three months. And that means that all the pitches will be quite dry.” The former England captain, Graham Gooch, said in an interview with the Times of India.
Read More: ENG vs IND, 2025: Why Headingley is a win toss & field first venue
Can India plan around Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI?
During a recent chat with ESPNcricinfo, Yorkshire head of grounds, Richard Robinson, informed about England’s requirement of ‘true surfaces.’ The plan for the home side is to put huge scores on the board. On flat surfaces, India’s fourth quick, Nitish Reddy or Shardul Thakur potentially, may leak runs.
In addition, Kuldeep Yadav is in the squad. The left-arm wrist spinner blew away the England batters during the previous home series. He picked up 19 wickets in eight innings at an average of 20.15. Kuldeep is less dependent on the surfaces, thanks to his ability to deceive the batter in the air.
Ravindra Jadeja’s Test bowling average of 43.48 in England isn’t great. The left-arm spinner has picked up 27 wickets in 12 encounters.
Old Trafford, Edgbaston, and the Oval are the venues where the spinners have taken up a significant chunk of bowling loads. If the touring side wants to consider strengthening their batting, then they may use Washington Sundar at number eight.
General wisdom will drive any side towards the combination of four pacers and one spinner. But there is evidence of three pacers and two spinners to earn success. It’s a risk-reward relationship, and India shouldn’t take a step back in taking the risk.
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