Following the England cricket team’s 106-run defeat in Vizag, former England skipper Michael Atherton has backed the Ben Stokes-led side to still win the India vs England Test series. The India cricket team reached parity in Visakhapatnam owing to Jasprit Bumrah and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s brilliance.
However, after the end of the match, while talking with SkySports, Atherton backed Ben Stokes and Co, urging them to exploit the ‘young and inexperienced’ Indian side without Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mohammed Shami. He said:
“They are missing some serious players, Kohli and KL Rahul, who we expect will come back and play in the next game. Ravindra Jadeja will probably come back at some stage. I’m not sure about Shami; I think he’s been ruled out.
Without some of those players in India’s batting lineup, England will feel like they have a chance in the series. They’ve taken 20 wickets in the two games that they’ve played. It’s not the same batting lineup as maybe 10 years ago.
They have some younger and more inexperienced players there, so if England do get runs, they’ll feel that they have a chance of being in the contest.
After two games, based on what we have seen, England will be in the contest. It’s 1-1; there’s everything to play for.”
