Former England skipper Michael Atherton believes home team India will emerge victorious in the upcoming five-Test series against touring English side. The comments come as the teams gear up for the first Test which starts on January 25 in Hyderabad. Atherton also said that the difference would be the spinners of both teams and India have better options.

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“I think India will win. Their spinners are better than England’s and that will be the defining thing in the end,” Atherton told Sky Sports.

ALSO READ | India batter Virat Kohli withdraws from first two Tests against England

“If you go to India, spin will play a big part, it historically has done and I suspect it always will do. India do have a very strong seam attack as well.”

“India’s four spinners are very different to England’s. They have two left-arm finger spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. They have a wrist spinner in Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the greatest spinners of all time,” Atherton said.

“England have a solid left-arm spinner in Jack Leach and then three very inexperienced spinners after that with Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed. It will be a particular challenge for them but the selectors see a high ceiling for them,” he added.

Virat Kohli pulls out of first two Tests

India batter Virat Kohli has withdrawn from the first two Tests of upcoming home series against England, announced the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in a release on Monday (Jan 22). The board has cited personal reasons for Kohli’s withdrawal from the series. 

A replacement will be named in due course, confirmed the BCCI.

On January 21, England batter Harry Brook had also pulled out of the tour due to personal reasons. The England Cricket Board (ECB) named Dan Lawrence as his replacement in the side.

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