He was among the key plotters of England’s historic 2012 Test triumph in India and former coach Andy Flower sees no reason why an encore is not possible this year as he believes the visitors have enough “formidable players” to challenge the upbeat hosts.
The spin duo of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, along with the magnificent Kevin Pietersen, were the architects of England’s 2-1 series win that year, the only victory by an overseas team in India during the last decade.
Flower, a former Zimbabwe captain and one of England’s most successful coaches in recent history, didn’t want to get into predictions but cited India’s remarkable Test conquest of Australia to assert the point that visitors are no longer underdogs in the longest format.
“India won a T20 series, the Melbourne and Brisbane Tests this year and a Test series a couple of years ago in Australia, which goes to show that there are ample opportunities for visiting squads to make a mark,” Flower told PTI.
Asked to pick a favourite for the four-Test series starting February 5 in Chennai, Flower declined.
“It would be premature to declare the direction in which the fortunes of any team would swing. However, the English side has a formidable combination of players who can set themselves into comfortable or winning situations,” Flower said.
He was obviously referring to the likes of skipper Joe Root along with the pace duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and not to forget that powerhouse of all-round talent called Ben Stokes.
Flower said that the series, like every other contest, would be about how one seizes critical moments.
“A lot will depend on the game day, and the star performers’ ability to convert critical opportunities. The English squad has some amazing players who have excelled in all formats of the game,” the Zimbabwean said.
A lot of England’s Test success can be credited to the champion pace bowling duo of Broad and Anderson, who between them, have a whopping 1100 plus Test wickets.
Flower admitted that once the two leave, it will be hard to fill in their big shoes.
“All teams undergo such periods of transition when they have to replace star performers that are phasing out,” said Flower.
“Building a fierce bowling attack often takes some amount of time, and both Anderson and Broad have dominated the pace attack for England for little over a decade.
“They will be leaving a memorable legacy behind, and the new set of bowlers have large shoes to fill,” said the gritty left-hander of yesteryears, who himself enjoyed a lot of success in the sub-continent.
England would be coming into the series after beating Sri Lanka in their own backyard, a confident build-up to what is likely to be a gruelling assignment next month.
India, on the other hand, can’t be faulted if they are still a bit giddy after that epic win over Australia in Brisbane, which earned them all-round praise and respect.
In recent times, there has been a trend of top batsmen playing express pace well but coming up short against swing bowling.
These include Indian players who haven’t done well against Anderson, Broad or a Trent Boult for example.
“It is not necessarily true for all international batsmen, as it has got more to do with preparation for a series and reading the bowlers’ tactics right,” said Flower, who played 63 Tests and 213 ODIs for Zimbabwe.