The much-awaited Ashes series is set to get underway on November 21, as Australia and England will renew their 143-year-old rivalry with the first Test scheduled to take place at the Optus Stadium in Perth. England haven't won a single Test in Australia since their 2010-11 tour when they won the five-match series 3-1. Since then, the Brits have played 15 Tests down under and lost 13 while drawing only two.
However, come the first Test, Australia will be missing their captain, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood, and will likely have a couple of debutants, one at the top of the order and the other with the ball. Jake Weatherald and Brendan Doggett are likely to get Baggy Greens on the opening day of the Ashes.
Many believe that this is England's best chance to take an early lead in the series and then capitalize on that momentum to win the Ashes. However, even the Ben Stokes-led side is not without its own flaws. England couldn't win the home series against an inexperienced Indian side earlier this year as Shubman Gill and his men levelled the five-match rubber 2-2.
India were playing without Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravi Ashwin for the first time in more than a decade, but still managed to put up a good show. What did they do to keep England at bay despite being put under pressure more than once? In fact, many felt at the end of the series that had India won at Lord's, they would've even won the series 3-2. Let us see what Australia can learn from Team India to beat England in the upcoming Ashes:
1. Make England's strength, their weakness
England love to play aggressive cricket. They believe that they have changed the way Test cricket is played. They score runs at more than five an over on most occasions and more often than not, amass 400 or more runs in a single day. Well, it all looks exciting, but it takes a toll on their bowlers as the series progresses.
Keep England on the field more by playing some attritional Test cricket. Australia should bat as long as they can and keep them in the field. The hosts must make sure that their fast bowlers come back for their third, fourth or fifth spells in the same innings. This will tire them out and the fact that England score runs quickly and eventually get bundled out soon, will lead to their bowlers not getting enough rest. This will work as a two-edged sword and eventually benefit Australia.
India did the same on most occasions and found some success, as by the time the last Test started, only one bowler, Chris Woakes, who played the first Test was fit and an entirely new bowling attack was included in the playing XI. Result? India won the final Test and levelled the series 2-2.
2. Don't let England batters score easy boundaries
England batters are very much in a hurry to score runs, like teams usually are in white-ball cricket. Apart from Joe Root, none of their batters seem to be ready to grind it out, and it was pretty much visible during the India series. They were finding ways to score runs and also get out in the process. While India learned their lesson a bit late but they eventually understood that defensive fields work against this England side.
Australia should just make sure that they don't let England batters off the hook. Defensive fields, while also retaining their close-in catchers, will not let the batsmen score easy boundaries. Even if it means that they are conceding easy singles, Australia shouldn't deter but look to save boundaries. England batters tend to lose their calm in that case and in search for boundaries, will chase one wide of the off-stump only to edge the ball to the keeper or slips.
3. Don't Give Up, eventually England will do it
Well, the handshake drama from the fourth Test must have left a lot of scars on England fans and players. Not many gave India a chance to save the fourth Test, especially after they lost two wickets with zero runs on the board in the second innings. But when the likes of Gill, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja dug deep, England skipper Stokes came forward to offer a draw in the final hour only to hear a painful 'No' from the Indian batters. What followed was that the England players vented their frustration and were also criticised by some of their own former cricketers for 'looking silly' on the field.
Even if under the pump, Australian players should just make sure that they dig deep, with bat or ball, and not let England have anything easy. They will get frustrated and make a mistake.
The India vs England series was full of drama. The visitors exactly did whatever is mentioned above, and we had a memorable series. Result? It ended in 2-2 and if India had not made silly mistakes at Lord's, they would've also won the series. Australia know their conditions well and they just have to frustrate this England side and things are very much likely to fall apart from them. Add to it their injury-prone bowling attack, comprising the likes of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, who are unlikely to play all five Test matches and life is only going to get easy for the hosts as the series progresses.
