Pat Pocock, who was part of David Gower’s 1984-85 series-winning squad in India, reckons Cook & Co don’t have enough ammunition to beat Kohli’s Indians in forthcoming Test battle
Pat Pocock at the Oval in London where he is president of Surrey County Cricket Club. Pic/Getty Images
Alastair Cook’s Englishmen arrive in Mumbai today with a mission to maintain their superiority in the last two series against India (2012-13 and 2014). Not many England captains have gone into an India series with this kind of record. However, no one’s putting their money on England, who have yet to recover from last week’s Dhaka Test loss to Bangladesh where they were demolished inside three days.
Off-spinner Pat Pocock, who was part of two English Test teams to India (in 1972-73 and 1984-85) reckoned England don’t have the ammunition to pull off another away series win here like they did in 2012-13 when their batting responsibilities were shouldered by Cook and Kevin Pietersen while Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann spun England to glory. “Panesar and Swann’s absence will be felt incredibly. We have a major problem in England with spin and unfortunately, there is nothing in the structure which convinces me that we are putting things right,” Pocock (70) told mid-day from London yesterday.
He added: “England have an awful lot of work to do with spin. Not only do we not take wickets in international cricket, our batsmen don’t get the opportunity to acquire the technique to play against spinners. The last Test in Dhaka has not helped matters at all. I don’t think we will perform as bad as that again. It was a nightmare.”
England skipper Alastair Cook reacts after losing his wicket during the Dhaka Test on Sunday. Pic/AFP
Ominous signs for Cook & Co notwithstanding, Pocock does not see England losing 0-5. “We will struggle, but I don’t think it’s going to be 5-0. I am very pleased that we are going to see a five-Test series. I just hope India will go back to playing a lot of Test cricket again because I am afraid, you can’t help getting the impression over here that all India want to do is to play T20 matches because there is a lot of money in T20 cricket,” said Pocock.
Not only does he agree that India have a formidable batting line-up and good spinners, he also thinks highly of the pace bowlers.
Pocock, the president of Surrey County Cricket Club, turned back the clock to England’s 1984-85 series win in India where he claimed 13 wickets. “Phil Edmonds and me used to bowl virtually all day, everyday, so we were able to control the game quite well. Whoever bowls the most overs has the biggest opportunity to take control of the match. We stopped India from running up huge scores,” said Pocock.
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