Former India chief coach Anil Kumble feels that there is a big role for the likes of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja during team’s tour of England at this time of the year.
“Spinners will definitely play a major role on this tour of England. In the second half of the summer, we do know that the wickets will be more suitable for them. There will be wear and tear on the wickets, and spinners will come into play much earlier than in the first half,” Kumble said.
“Conditions in the first half – in the months of May and June – are more challenging in England (for spinners) because of the rain and dampness.”
“I feel we possess a good all-round unit. We have a strong bowling group which can pick 20 wickets consistently. If you look at the batting line-up, we possess a lot of experience. On an average, the number of Test matches played by our batsmen stands at about 50. Also, the experience of having toured there before will definitely help as they will be aware of the conditions,” he said.
“I am sure every player would have been told that this is the benchmark. This is the test and this is the number you need to get or else you are not going to be there is what would have probably been communicated to them (by the board),” he said.
