Woe be England?

Tomorrow sees the start of the first test between India and England in Nagpur. After this summers stunning Ashes victory over Australia, optimism in English cricket was flying high. They were gonna become the new superpower of world cricket, starting with victories on the sub-continent this winter. This optimism now seems like a memory from a distant world. England gave away a promising position to loose their first test in Pakistan, and from there it went downhill. They lost by an innings in the final test, to hand the hosts a 3-0 victory. They went on to loose the ODI series 3-2, so based on their recent performances on the sub-continent they have little hope to triumph in India- where they haven't won a test since 1985, and even Steve Waugh's awesome Aussies never found an opening. And it has gone from bad to worse for England: Captain Steve Vaughan is out of the first test with the knee injury that troubled him in Pakistan, and it is uncertain whether he will be back later in the series or not. Opening batsman Marcus Trescothic has gone back to England and will miss all three tests, spinner Ashley Giles is out, and most recently Simon Jones pulled out of the opener in Nagpur after twisting his knee during practice. With Vaughan and Tresco out, the captaincy falls on the shoulders of last years Ashes hero and BBC sports personality if the year, Andrew Flintoff. For England to achieve anything in this test, he must somehow inspire England to the heights of their past glory. Of course, there is the possibility that the added responsibility of captaincy will inhibit his game, another doubt for England.

In the Indian camp, they also lost in Pakistan, but at least they put up a fight, and they bounced back to win the ODI-series. The Indian batting-order is fearsome: Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni. Their attack looks sharp too, consider the record of their spinners on home soil: Kumble has taken 309 of his 494 Test wickets in India while Harbhajan has snared 154 of his 219. And both men take their wickets at an average of under 24 at home.

Unless the captaincy of Andrew Flintoff can inspire every Englishman to top-perform, I do not see any result but a series win for India. The question remains whether the tourists can save any draws.