The bowling can be tricky though. Almost certainly India will play three seamers and Harbhajan (unless Ojha forces his way in which is not bad) and get the batsmen, at least four of whom bowled well at the IPL, to pitch in as fifth and sixth bowlers. Unfortunately, each of those is a spinner (slow bowler might be more accurate) and so India will need the conditions to help them just a bit. If, like in South Africa, the ball grips, India will have an embarrassment of riches but that is unlikely to happen in early season cricket in England. If it turns out the ball is seaming a fair bit, India might be tempted to play Irfan Pathan at No 7 and play Praveen Kumar.

Over the last month and a half, teams played with a seven and a half minute break after 10 overs. That can become a habit very quickly and, as we discovered during the IPL, fielding sides who were struggling in the first half were actually waiting for the time out. And as Anil Kumble told me he always put his best bowler on during the 11th over. Now teams will play 20 overs without a break, indeed that is how it had always been till the IPH, and that will mean even greater emphasis on the captain to be able to think on his feet.

With the exception of Sehwag and Gambhir, by their own standards, each of the Indian players has done well at the IPL and are in form. Sometimes we can raise too many questions about fatigue and ignore the fact that a player in form wants to play more games. If I was Raina or Rohit Sharma I would be waiting for June 5, even the 1st and the 3rd, in fact, when the teams play warm-up games.

... contd.