Two straight final appearance in the ICC World Test Championship, an unbeaten record at home stretching back to 2012, two away series wins on Australian soil. India certainly are the team to beat in Test cricket with former England batter Ian Bell calling them the ‘best in the world at the moment’.
England will play host to India for a five-match Test series at home in July 2025 and Bell feels that the players will already have their sights set on the huge challenge.
“I’m sure they’ve (England) got one eye on the next 12 months, which has five Test matches (against) India at home, which will be a huge challenge,” Bell told news agency PTI. “India are probably the best team in the world at the moment, and then, Australia away. Those 10 Test matches on the road will be hugely important for that group of players and something they’re gearing themselves up for.”
England’s aggressive approach with the bat in Test cricket, nicknamed Bazball, has generated headlines and positive results but the failure to make it to the final of the WTC sticks out like a sore thumb.
In the ongoing WTC cycle, they seem to have fallen behind with India and Australia, again, setting the pace.
“We (England) were the last team to win in India, which was obviously (a) part of the journey to get to No 1 and we won in Australia. For this England side to get to No 1, there’s no doubt, ability and talent-wise, they have that,” Bell said.
Bell reckons India have been quite consistent when playing Test cricket which is why they are the world’s top team.
“That’s what we’ve seen with India at the moment. They’ve managed to be able to win away from home as much as anyone and that’s the reason why they are the No 1 team in the world at the moment,” he said.
Bell feels that the new approach from England team management has helped them unlock the talents of players like Zak Crawley and Harry Brook.
“From a fan point of view, you have to look at the results. Since Brendon (McCullum) has come into this England side and (Ben) Stokes has took over, the results have been absolutely fantastic,” he said.
“What they’ve managed to do with the talent that they have is to unlock some of that…. Zak Crawley’s, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, they’ve managed to get the best out of them. I don’t think you could ask a Crawley or Pope to try and be an Alastair Cook or a Jonathan Trott who played in a different style, but were very successful. It’s important to identify what they’ve got and they’re adapting that as we go on now,” he added.
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