There is a sense of deja vu about the Indian team's preparation before the Test series against England. In the two previous tours (1996 and 2002), the side had a similar look. The batting line up consisted of the big three but unfortunately no reliable openers. The bowling had one outstanding seamer (Srinath in 1996 and Zaheer Khan in 2002), one promising new ball partner (Venkatesh Prasad in 1996 and Ashish Nehra in 2002), and one ineffective third seamer (Paras Mhambrey in 1996 and Ajit Agarkar in 2002).

It's the same old problem this time. Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer are far from convincing as an opening pairing, and Jaffer's place is in doubt following his twin failure against Sussex. As for the pace attack, Zaheer Khan should be a threat considering his previous tour in 2002 and his county stint which reformed him. The tricky part will be to make sure that Sri Sreesanth understands the line and length to bowl consistently and be the wicket-taking bowler he was in South Africa.

RP Singh should understand his role as the third seamer who can try to bowl long spells and not give away runs. Sourav Ganguly will definitely be used a lot, and I have a feeling that he'll be more effective as the stock bowler rather than RP Singh. Invariably, the third seamer has turned out to be a waste for India, and we've missed a second spinner. But, apart from Anil Kumble, no spinner in recent times has looked like replacing Kumble once he retires. Powar and Chawla are too untested in Tests for Rahul Dravid to take the risk of playing them ahead of a third seamer.

'India will be wiser to make sure the third and fourth bowlers can bowl well enough. Otherwise, a good start by England's openers will allow Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan to dominate very quickly'


As for Kumble, how he uses the conditions on the fourth and fifth days will determine whether we have a chance of winning a Test match. Too often, India has come close but lacked the firepower to bowl out a side twice. Zaheer and Kumble will carry a heavy burden, and rather than lament the fifth bowling option, India will be wiser to make sure the third and fourth bowlers can bowl well enough. Otherwise, a good start by England's openers will allow Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan to dominate very quickly.

Not having a reliable opening pair will prove to be a huge liability for India. It's unlikely that either Jaffer or Karthik will try to be aggressive and take on England's pace attack like Sehwag in the past. The twin pressures on the middle order to post a big total and score quickly seem a bit too much right now. Apart from Dravid, no other batsman is playing with the confidence and fluency to score quickly.

Test cricket has changed a lot in the last 10 years, and not being able to score quickly will be as big a liability as the lack of bowling firepower. It will be a risky ploy to make Karthik both keeper and opener, and play Yuvraj as the sixth batsman, but a positive one considering Mahendra Dhoni's technical shortcomings. Dhoni has shown a lot of maturity very quickly, but as a batsman against a good pace attack he's not as effective as in the one-day game.