ENG vs IND: Strengths And Weaknesses, India Against England Test Series

India and England begin a five-Test match series at Trent Bridge here on Wednesday. Here is a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the two teams.

England's strengths:

Home conditions: England are playing at home and going by the past tours, they know how to exploit the change in weather and conditions and win crucial moments. Such familiarity came to good use when they won two close games against India in 2018 -- the first Test in Birmingham by 31 runs and the fourth Test in Southampton by 60 runs.

Experienced new-ball attack: James Anderson and Stuart Broad have taken 1,140 Test wickets together and they were part of the last three home series against India. They rattled the Indian batsmen on multiple occasions. Anderson will resume his rivalry with Kohli. Although England are playing them alternately in Test matches, it will be interesting to see if England play both of them against India.

All-round options: Although Ben Stokes has pulled out of the series, England have all-rounders like Sam Curran and Chris Woakes who can provide balance to the side, chipping in with bat and ball on crucial occasions.

England's weaknesses:

Fragile against spin: The England top-order came a cropper against Indian spinners during the away series in February-March. On pitches that aided turn, the England batsmen showed ineptness with their feet frozen. The pitches in England won't support spin as much but they may carry mental scars from the series in India which they lost 3-1.

Read More