England’s best Test side of the last 50 years A Set the default text size A Set large text size
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With the Ashes excitement soon to build and the absorbing series between India and England underway, I thought it was timely to look into the rear vision mirror and come up with the best England side of the last 50 years, in a similar manner to my article on Indian and Australian sides of the last half century.
For the opening positions, I chose the right and left handed combination and contrasting styles of Michael Vaughan (5719 runs at 41.4 average) and Alastair Cook, England’s highest ever run scorer in Test cricket (12,472 runs at 45.4 average).
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Second Test: With fans set to return, India look to bounce back while England stick to rotation
India need to win two matches in the series and not lose any of the remaining games to make the WTC final. Virat Kohli and Joe Root in Chennai | Sportzpics / BCCI
The cauldron that Test cricket creates is brutal. One day, you are on top of the world after breaching a fortress in Australia that has stood for three decades and a fortnight later, your own fortress of sorts is breached by an England side full of confidence. As India captain Virat Kohli said after the defeat in Chennai, there is nothing for granted in this format and Joe Root’s men are strong enough away from home to test India’s incredible record in their own backyard.