"It's a Huge Series for England" - Ryan Sidebottom Tips India Test as Summer's True Benchmark
As England prepare to take on India in a blockbuster five-match Test series beginning 20th June, former international Ryan Sidebottom believes this could be the defining challenge of the summer - perhaps even more so than The Ashes Series 2025/26 beginning later this year.
The ex-England left-arm seamer, who was part of the squad that won the 2010 ICC World T20, spoke exclusively to BoyleSports ahead of the series, highlighting the scale of the task ahead and the importance of red-ball preparation following England's recent one-off Test against Zimbabwe.
England's One-Off Against Zimbabwe: Useful But Unchallenging
"It's a huge year ahead for England. It is great preparation for the batters to all be out in the middle. Against Zimbabwe, look, it was very comfortable, wasn't it, in the end? It's great to see Zimbabwe back playing Test cricket, albeit a one-off Test match.
"If Zimbabwe, like a Bangladesh, are going to get better and grow as a nation, they're going to have to play these types of games and see how good the opposition is. And when you have that level of opposition, it inspires you to practise harder and become a better player, and then with that, the younger generation sees that player, how he practises, and how he wants to become a better player. So it's only good for the game, most definitely."
England v India: The Verdict
"I think I would say it's two evenly matched Test teams. If you look now at the loss of Jimmy and Stuart Broad in the bowling attack, is it now if you're missing Mark Wood or Chris Wokes, a young, inexperienced attack?
"But then you could argue India has lost a lot of the global superstars in terms of their batting line-up. So, it's going to be a hugely intriguing Test series.
"Who will come out on top? I think who bats the best. I think, arguably, England are stronger on home soil batting-wise. But then I look at India's bowling attack. They've got a wonderful bowling attack compared to England in terms of experience.
"Siraj, Bumrah, they have an all-round experienced attack. Shardul Thakur did very well in a Test series over here last time but unfortunately got injured.
"KL Rahul is a wonderful player. But then you've got the inexperience of a wonderfully, amazingly talented batting line-up. So, how are the two line-ups going to compare? It's going to be a wonderful, wonderful Test series.
"You've got (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, a wonderful cricketer who's going to be over in the Test Series, very attacking.
"You've got (Rishabh) Pant, who's come back into the set-up after a long lay-off through injury. India has such a strong line-up again, and it's almost like these superstars are already newcomers coming over to England.
"Can they handle the moving ball? Can they handle England's conditions? If they can, I would say India just pip it in terms of the players and the talent. But when England gets on top, and they get on a roll, they're wonderful to watch, too. They're very entertaining, aren't they? The only thing I worry about during this Test Series is how England plays that attacking style of cricket.
"The sort of 'Bazball' that actually Brendan McCullum doesn't like talking about. But sometimes you have to play the situation. You have to play the occasion. And sometimes England, they lose a lot of wickets in clumps, don't they? Because they're so gung-ho, they think, 'We will attack ourselves out of this situation.'
"Who's going to come out on top? For me, India might just shade it with their bowling attack."
India's Next Star? 14-Year-Old Vaibhav Suryavanshi Impresses
"It's wonderful, isn't it? I think India, because cricket is just like everything to them. When you go over there, it's crazy.
"Everything is cricket. They are like your Premier League footballers over here. Everybody knows what they're doing, where they live, what they're up to, what games they're playing in.
"And they are proper superstars in world cricket. So, now your Kohlis have retired and your Tendulkars, who's next? This 14-year-old who has burst onto the scene! It's almost like another Sachin Tendulkar. Already, they've unearthed this absolute gem!
"The thing is not to get too carried away but, wow, to burst onto the scene like that in the IPL, the way he hit the ball was truly unreal. Actually, when they said that this 14-year-old is playing, he doesn't look 14, does he? He looks like a grown man already.
"He's so mature, and he's quite a big lad. But, I mean, wow, how he hit the ball and the way he played. Hitting a six as soon as he came in, his very first game. I remember my first game, I was so nervous. It was horrible. He was like a duck to water. He absolutely just thrived and loved the big occasion. So, well done to him. It's great that India is talking about these youngsters once again."
England Can't Afford to Look Ahead to the Ashes Just Yet
"You would argue India might be slightly stronger than Australia, a little bit. But you play what's in front of you. You can't look too far. In any sport, if you start looking too far ahead, or looking at the next three games, or say you're playing against the bottom of the league, that can catch you up and catch you out very, very quickly.
"This is a huge, huge series for England. It's a big series for a number of players, especially in the batter line-up.
"There's been a number talking about Zak Crawley and his inconsistencies. He scores a big 200, 300. But then gets low scores. Is he a little bit too attacking? But, yeah, you have to play what's in front of you.
"Take each test match, each day as it comes. You're still playing Test cricket. It's still five days. You can bat time. You can stay in the middle. You can gut it out. If you take care of that, then the cricket will eventually take care of itself over time and in Australia.
"We have the batting line-up to attack any wonderful bowling attack. The only thing I worry about is England's bowling attack in Australia. Again, it's quite inexperienced. So if they do well in this series, whoever stands up and is counted will bode well for Australia.
"They'll be very confident going into the Ashes series. But, again, it is a big test series, huge for England. How they perform will earmark how they perform in Australia."
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