Sunil Gavaskar speaks about India's team balance, choice of spinners

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has identified Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin as two players who can lend balance to the Indian team as both of them have Test hundreds under their belt.

"They have the advantage of two of their bowlers, R Ashwin and Hardik Pandya with Test hundreds under their belt, so they can bat deep even if they go with five batsmen and there's Dinesh Karthik too, who has a Test hundred," Gavaskar wrote in his column for the Times of India.

Conditions have changed in England

Speaking about the spinning conundrum, Gavaskar has advocated for the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav as the second spinner, but also added that they can decide on the combinations after looking at the conditions and the pitch on the morning of the Test match.

He also mentioned that the weather over the past month has suited the Indian team, but spells of rain and cloud cover over the past week might enthuse the fast bowlers who will get the ball to move a bit more and can also bowl extended spells.

Speaking about the South African tour, the batting maestro said that India could have won the series, but then haphazard scheduling impeded their chances to clinch the series.

"If they beat South Africa, Australia, and England then they would have done what no other Indian team had done before. They failed the first challenge in South Africa, mainly because of a schedule which wasn't thought out properly," he added.

As India prepare to take on England in the five-match series, the stage is all set for an intriguing clash. While India is the number one ranked side in the world, England have always been a formidable opponent in home conditions.

"Whether you want to act as an underdog or favourite it is in your own head. You need professionalism more than feeling like an underdog or starting as a favourite. That is something we want to do as a team: we want to be consistent and professional," captain Virat Kohli had said on the eve of the Test match.