Home
Legendary Sachin Tendulkar has made a bold prediction on the outcome of the upcoming five-match Test series between India and England which is slated to get underway from June 20 at Headingley, Leeds.
Sachin Tendulkar predicts 3-1 series win for India in Test series against England
During a conversation with ESPNcricinfo he said that India will go on to win the series 3-1.
"I have settled for 3-1 to India," Tendulkar told ESPNcricinfo.
Sachin Tendulkar has offered valuable advice to the new India Test captain, Shubman Gill, urging him to disregard the external opinions and pressures surrounding his captaincy during the upcoming tour of England. Tendulkar expressed his confidence in Gill's abilities, believing he is poised to achieve "something special" during the series.
"My advice to him [Gill] would be that he should not worry about what x, y, z is saying. His captaincy, whether Shubman is being aggressive, or defensive, or attacking enough, or not a proactive captain, or active captain - whatever that opinion is, it's only an opinion and it's from outside. I think what he needs to think about is what was discussed in the dressing room - when they are planning something, are they going according to that plan and whether the decision being made is in the interests of the team - that is what he needs to think about and not about the outside world," former India captain added.
"The outside world can only give opinions. These guys can go out and play as well, and only the dressing room will have that honour. No one else will have that. I would say, just go out, it's a huge honour, enjoy the moment and give your best for the country and do what is in the interest of the country. Other than that, I would say shut the doors to everything. I think that should be his thought process," Tendulkar further said.
The 25-year-old stepped into the captaincy role last month, succeeding Rohit Sharma. He will be leading a relatively young Indian team, a consequence of the recent retirements of seasoned batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Adding to this responsibility, Gill will also take on the crucial batting position of number 4, a spot historically occupied by legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli for the preceding three decades. Tendulkar himself, who batted in that position for an impressive 275 innings between 1992 and his retirement in 2013, amassing 13,492 runs, believes that Gill has rightfully earned this coveted role.
"Playing for India itself is a responsibility. And it could be batting at any number, even if you go out to bat at 6 or 7, those runs are invaluable. No. 11 is also fulfilling the responsibility in a different capacity. It is good that people believe that he is capable of fulfilling that [No. 4] responsibility. The expectations that people have of him is a positive sign, because people have faith in him. He has to just go out and be himself, be determined and put his best foot forward with all his commitment. I'm sure he'll do something special," Tendulkar signed off.
England's Playing XI for first Test against India:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Jamie Smith (WK), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
India's squad for England tour:
Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana.
ADVERTISEMENT
