Legendary cricketer Anil Kumble has assessed England's bowling attack for the opening Test against India as "highly inexperienced," predicting a comfortable 4-1 victory for the hosts in the upcoming five-match series.
England's decision to field a three-pronged spin attack, including uncapped spinner Tom Hartley and one-Test old Rehan Ahmed alongside Jack Leach, raised eyebrows, with Mark Wood being the lone fast bowler.
Ben Stokes opting out of sharing the bowling workload throughout the series presented a challenge for the England captain in finding the right bowling mix. Kumble noted the potential difficulties for the visitors and expressed curiosity about their approach.
"With just one fast bowler in that lineup, it'll be interesting to see how they go about because I certainly thought that once Harry Brook was unavailable, they had the choice to go with Jonny Bairstow as the keeper and then bring in another fast bowler," Kumble commented during an interaction organised by Jio Cinema.
Kumble emphasised the inexperience in England's bowling lineup, especially with young spinners like Hartley and Ahmed facing the daunting task of building pressure on India's formidable batting lineup.
"It's going to be a massive challenge for those young spinners, especially Rehan and Hartley, to build pressure on this wonderful Indian batting lineup."
Regarding the series outcome, Kumble predicted a 4-1 win for India in the Anthony de Mello Trophy, citing the aggressive Test cricket approach adopted by both teams. He expressed confidence in all five Tests yielding results unless weather conditions intervene, giving one Test to England and four to India.
When discussing India's squad selection, Kumble favoured Axar Patel as the third spinner ahead of Kuldeep Yadav, citing Axar's all-round capabilities and success in the previous series against England.
"If the conditions are spin-friendly... then the preferred spinner would be Axar Patel because of what he brings to the table in terms of his batting ability and his all-round ability," Kumble said.
Addressing the inclusion of Rajat Patidar in the squad, Kumble acknowledged the batsman's consistency but expressed doubts about him making his debut in the opening Test.
"My sense would be that Shreyas (Iyer)… now the team management has clearly stated that (KL) Rahul will not be keeping wickets, I am assuming that it'll be Shreyas at No. 4, then No. 5 would be KL Rahul, (at) No. 6 (KS) Bharat, and then the all-rounders," he added.
Kumble emphasised the need for a balanced approach to batting in Indian conditions, anticipating England's aggressive batting style and urging India to maintain a good defence while adapting to the challenging conditions.
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