By S. Obeyesekere
The build up to the first test match between England and India has reached a crescendo pre match as never before hype with much centering around India and its new captain Shubman Gill with a flow of a never ending street like Indian experts, its media and foreign experts in the game throwing their hats into the ring assessing the new India and its strengths and dos and donts and what they think of Gill to setting him on a high pedestalh before a ball has been bowled to going overboard with the change at the top following the retirements of icons Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the latter’s exit more by compulsion with the BCCI showing him the door signals that led to the former skipper throwing in the towel triggered by a pathetic display with thet bat in an acrimonious 2-nil hammering by Australia.
It has perhaps over boiled to a point of making Shubman Gill a demi god of Indian cricket even before he has walked the big boots to the middle.
As the 25-year old walks into the D day Friday at Headingley that final test of strength in the baptism of meeting the big challenge facing a highly experiencged England cast led by no mean battle hardened veteran in the game in his opposite. number Ben Stokes, will tell.
Indeed, the 5 match series unfolds in what has been an increasing rumble arising from the new India spectrum of great expectations of ifs as to what the new chosen one and new faces slotted in place of Kohli and Sharma could achieve.
The away momentum has been such to drawing England Captain Ben Stokes throwing fire into the ring on the match eve voicing that England was a tried and tested outfit that feared no bowler in hinting at meeting the Jasprit Bumrah thunderbolt.
“No fear. In international cricket, you come up a xxxgainst quality opposition all the time. We know his class and what he brings to any team he plays for, but in terms of fear, definitely not,” Stokes said.
“I don’t think one bowler alone is going to win the series for either team. All 11 [players] have to stand up. I don’t think there is just one person in either team holding the key to success,” he voiced.