Mismatch or high-intensity battle?

England’s Mark Wood, who has a long history of niggles. Pic/Getty Images

What lessons can India take from the Ashes in preparing for England's tour in early 2024? Can too much be read into Australia's clinical demolition of India in the World Test Championship final (at The Oval held before the Ashes) and translating that into a drawn Ashes series? Are we comparing apples and oranges?

England's team will necessarily be vastly different when they land on Indian shores in January. The Ashes was almost a Dad's Army bowling attack, ideally suited to home conditions, but one that will be woefully exposed on the subcontinent. Stuart Broad has retired, Jimmy Anderson should retire, Chris Woakes is a vastly different bowler away from Old Blighty and Mark Wood has plenty of airspeed, but will struggle to take the field with a long history of niggles, real or imagined.

India need to bat long (and slow) to force the bowlers to come back for repeat spells in sapping heat, to force Ben Stokes to maybe bowl himself or Joe Root. If India score 400, they're actually better off doing it over a longer period than to score quickly. It will sorely test England's depth, especially without the tireless Broad to call on. The new generation England bowler is made of glass - he simply doesn't have the durability to go the distance. The physios won't allow it!

We have no idea what the spin attack will look like. If Moeen Ali at 38 was their best bet for the Ashes, it hardly inspires much confidence in their depth. If Australia struggled with the likes of Nathan Lyon and his excellent support crew, England's spin threats are out of mind and out of sight. Literally.

The great unknown of course is whether England have learned anything themselves from the Ashes Bazball experiment. At the start of the series, their blind loyalty towards Project Self-Destruct cost them the first two Tests. You simply can't even contemplate declaring when you bat first in India until you pass 500 and when you're batting second and cruising along (like the first innings at Lord's), you have to be ruthless and throttle back if necessary to build a sizeable lead as insurance against batting last. Anything less is suicide, especially against a team like India who play their home conditions to perfection.

What might worry India is if England have refined Bazball and added common sense and humble pie to the recipe. There is no doubt that their aggressive approach rattled Australia and it is the blueprint for how most teams should target the Aussies. But if they allow their hubris to push too hard, England will make the mistake (again) of having the game by the throat and failing to make the kill. Indian pitches and oppressive heat/humidity will require a different type of Bazball, a more humble and reticent approach at times. Whether this England mindset can embrace humility and the occasional strategic retreat is debatable. Sometimes you have to surrender before you can win, never truer than in India where to lose patience is to lose the battle.

Root will be the biggest threat. His ability to sweep and manipulate the strike is in stark contrast to the rest of the batsmen who have undoubted strike power, but it is almost their Achilles Heel. Like Icarus who flew too close to the sun, gifted strokemakers like Zak Crawley and Harry Brook will need to bat "ugly" at times when the Ashwin-Jadeja-Axar triumvirate is rushing through the overs. Do they have it in them to bat time? I doubt it.

The toss will be less crucial in this series because if England win the toss and bat, they will score so quickly (or declare!!) that the game may not go long enough to reap the dividends of bowling last. Their preference is to chase down any total but that's not usually the preferred method in India. Bazball on Day Five in India is yet to be tested, but I would back India's spinners against England's swashbucklers any day of the week if conditions are typically Indian.

India's main danger lies within. If they fall for the hype and try to match England's aggression, they risk playing into Ben Stokes's hand. India made that mistake against Australia recently, charging headlong at Matthew Kuhnemann and losing a Test after winning a crucial toss. Let England claim the moral victories… their colonial history is littered with sound thrashings dressed up as brave triumphs. In this case, imitation will not be the sincerest form of flattery.

Clayton Murzello's Pavilion End column will be back next week.

Michael Jeh is a Brisbane-based former first-class player
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