No one is ready to sit out the IPL…Conditions will shift from the North Pole to the South Pole: Navjot Singh Sidhu on India’s upcoming tour of England | Cricket News
India will face England in June later this year for the five-match Test series. However, before going into the marquee series most of the Indian players have to endure about 10 weeks of T20 cricket in the form of the Indian Premier League. The conditions the Indian players will experience for the IPL in India and the for the England tour will be polar opposites said former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu.
“The thing to be worried about is that the IPL is now coming up next. No one is ready to sit out the IPL. They will play the league and then all of a sudden comes the England tour. Conditions will shift from the North Pole to the South Pole. Completely different,” said Sidhu
“Moreover, India’s last Test series in England had started on August 4. This time, it is ending on August 2. The matches are in June and July. There will be grass and moisture and the air will be so heavy that the ball will gain ample movement. And then it will move more off the seam,” Sidhu added.
The last time India toured England in 2021/2022 the series ended up 2-2.
Won’t expose Varun Chakarvarthy
The wrist-spinner Varun Chakarvarthy has been going through a purple patch in his career. However, Sidhu predicts that there are issues in the Indian side especially when it comes to playing all-rounders in overseas conditions. Though he feels Chakarvarthy might add value he expected India not to expose him.
“India’s biggest problem is that in the middle order there are no all-rounders the way you see in white ball cricket. Is there a Ravindra Jadeja, or Hardik Pandya or Axar Patel? There is only Jadeja among these three and even he will be limited there. Will he take 4-5 wickets in an innings there? No. You will have to bring a mystery spinner with all of them, that is England’s weakness. But India won’t expose Varun Chakravarthy.”
