Ian Chappell: Good news for Virat Kohli and company

Theres a rare opportunity beckoning for India the chance to beat both England and Australia in a Test series on their opponents home soil England is in a state of flux after a devastating loss at Lords and then a less than convincing win over the predictably inconsistent Pakistan at Headingley Australias problems are selfinduced with the ball tampering scandal in South Africa ensuring their two best batsmen will be missingA reasonably settled Indian sides first hurdle is England Theyll face that challenge boosted by the confidence that the hosts are no closer to solving the myriad of problems that surfaced on their recent tour of Australia and New ZealandEngland offie Dominic BessEnglands top order collapses are now a regular occurrence which is not surprising when both opening positions are under a cloud If it werent for the fact that Alistair Cooks numerous partners have been under intense scrutiny the senior player himself would be in jeopardyTwo classic Cook double centuries cant mask the fact that in his last 29 Test innings a period of 12 months hes had 18 scores under 20 including 10 single figure dismissals If an opener isnt making centuries regularly then he has to ensure the opposition doesnt get at the middle order while the ball is still new Too often Cook is doing neitherAdding to Englands frailties Cooks current partner Keaton Jennings is an already failed Test opener who has a porous defence Previously a visit from India would be a wonderful opportunity for struggling English openers to recapture their form but the tourists now have a wellbalanced attack that includes genuine pace and cagey seamers in addition to the traditionally strong spin bowlingNew selection guru Ed Smith may have cleverly plucked the inform Jos Buttler from the T20 2018 but the problem is his confidently aggressive batting only bolsters an already strong middleorder At least Smith has convinced Joe Root to bat at No 3 which is the correct spot for the consistent captainRoot is followed by Dawid Malan who is unconvincing at No 4 and Jonny Bairstows presence at five would be more palatable if he conceded the gloves to Buttler and played solely as a frontline batsman All this adds up to a lot of uncertainty for a team about to enter a tough series against a strong opponent However the headaches dont end there for England Smiths other notable choice in his selection debut was offspinner Dom Bess an energetic and effervescent cricketerHis batting and desire to be involved in the contest is laudable but the early signs are that his offspin shouldnt threaten an Indian team bred on facing these type of bowlers regularly In one over at Headingley Bess delivered more full tosses than R Ashwin offers up in a year a prospect that players like Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay should be relishing And apart from the opening batting Englands other major problem on the Australian and New Zealand tour was the pace attack comprised all rightarm bowlers of similar speedEnglands inability to unearth a genuine pace bowler is a greater problem when theyre overseas but if the late UK summer is hot and dry theyll need someone who can shake things up in an attempt to dramatically change the course of a gameIn recent times England have relied on swing bowling and a vibrant middleorder to produce success at home Theres no doubt that the swing bowling of Jimmy Anderson will present the Indian lineup with a serious challenge and if theres movement off the seam Stuart Broad will also be a handfulNevertheless India have the stronger batting lineup of the two teams and their variety in attack could help negate Englands middleorder strength if the openers continue to fail England is an enticing prospect for Kohlis India before they even contemplate Australias woesCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates