Dhoni hints at 5 bowlers for opening Test

India in England, 5 Test Series, 2014, Game 1
Today, 3:30 pm
Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Skipper MS Dhoni has said that he is ready to bat at Number 6 and thus dropping big hints that his side will look to go into the first Test with five bowling options here tomorrow.”I have to be ready at number six because that’s a crucial phase of the game where you can turn the matches,” Dhoni said. “If you start getting a few boundaries and bat positively in the company of other batsmen, and that’s the time of the game you are able to get some quick runs because the ball will be slightly old and the bowlers are a bit tired. But you have to make sure that you get good start, and more importantly you capitalise on it.”There are not too many teams around that have five bowlers. So, in itself it is a big challenge. It is great to have five bowlers outside the sub-continent and we will look at the wicket tomorrow and then decide,” he added. It means that India could look to play Stuart Binny as an all-round option at number 7.

England have held a stranglehold over India in their last two Test encounters, winning 4-0 in 2011 here and then 2-1 in India in 2012-13. The visitors will now be looking to turn the tide and they have Sri Lanka
to look up to after the islanders beat the English team in their own den during the recently conclude
Test series.

England (possible): 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Sam Robson, 3 Gary Ballance, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Joe Root, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Ben Stokes, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 James Anderson

India (possible): 1 M Vijay, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Ishant Sharma