My old Surrey team-mate Zafar Ansari will not be fretting over his expected England debut
My former Surrey team-mate Zafar Ansari is set to make his England debut during the second Test with Bangladesh, which gets underway on Friday, and he is the sort of character that will take it firmly in his stride.
Zafar is a very intelligent person and is a bit different to some of the other Surrey lads – he’s always reading and he spends a lot of time in coffee shops. The 24-year-old is also very much his own man and someone who has confidence in his own ability.
He’s a left-handed all-rounder but in my view is probably a better batsman than bowler at the moment – a bit like Moeen Ali. He’s still learning his trade with the ball, which he has done under fellow spinner Gareth Batty, his captain at Surrey.
I’m sure Gareth being on the tour of Bangladesh will be a help and make him feel comfortable, although knowing Zafar he won’t be stressing over making his England bow or putting too much pressure on himself. He’ll be fairly relaxed.
The wicket in Dhaka looks incredibly dry and spin is set to play a major part in the match. It will be interesting to see how England approach it, whether they operate with four spinners or field Zafar in place of Gareth Batty or Adil Rashid, for instance.
It would be sensible for England to go with Zafar and see what he can offer. Next month England play a five-Test series against India, who have a lot of right-handed batsmen, so having someone who can spin the ball away from the bat in those conditions could be key.
Other changes may be afoot in the bowling department and I believe that rotation is the right policy. I’d be surprised if England made any alterations to their top order, however, although I’d like to see Lancashire’s Haseeb Hameed given a shot.
I thought the 19-year-old might have played in the first Test and it would have been interesting to see how the right-hand, left-hand combination with captain Alastair Cook fared. Personally, I wouldn’t have Gary Ballance in the side at the moment.
He does have a decent record in Test cricket, averaging 41, but he just doesn’t look in form at all. I would bat Ben Duckett at No4 and partner Hameed with Cook at the top of the order, although I can see England sticking with the same formula in the batting ranks.
I’ve heard some commentators say that England must improve drastically in subcontinent conditions or face the prospect of being whitewashed against India, who are currently ranked No1 in the ICC Test rankings, during the series which starts next month.
India will be a massive challenge, especially across five Tests, but it’s almost a case of learning on the job at the moment. Gareth Batty, for example, who opened the bowling last week, started to bowl slightly quicker as the match went on as he felt that was the best way to go.
Subcontinent wickets are tough and I’m sure England will want to improve both their batting and bowling in the second Test but they are still acclimatising to the conditions and heat. I wouldn’t panic just yet.
That said, they will want to demonstrate progress and play a good brand of cricket in Dhaka so they can win the series 2-0, first and foremost, but also head to India in the best frame of mind possible.