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India v England: First Test match preview

We look ahead to the start of Alastair Cook's reign as England captain as he attempts to lead England to their first series victory in India since 1984-85.

Image: Andy Flower and Alastair Cook: New era begins in Ahmedabad

Two winters ago England completed the "Holy Grail" with a famous Ashes victory in Australia, now they are hoping to pull off an equally prestigious feat in cricket: winning in India.

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India, looking for revenge after their 4-0 mauling in England two summers ago, have selection issues of their own heading into the first of four Tests with openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir and national idol Sachin Tendulkar struggling for form and pace bowler Ishant Sharma a fitness doubt. But Nasser believes it would be foolish to write off India's batsmen on their home patch. He says: "Gambhir averaged over 90 against England in 2008 and like many Indian batsmen tends to be a better player at home, while Sehwag could go out and smash a hundred on the first day in Ahmedabad. Everything would then be forgiven and forgotten very quickly. "Similarly, I'm not writing Sachin Tendulkar off just yet either even if he has failed to pass 30 in his last seven Test innings. His recent hundred for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy shows he's not going into this series undercooked and while he might not be the player he once was - the best there's ever been - he remains a serious threat." The pitch, unsurprisingly, is expected to be dry and flat and a positive result at Ahmedabad has only yielded twice in the last seven Tests. Sky Sports reporter Tim Abraham has labelled the toss a "must-win" for both sides, while Nasser believes a big first-innings score is imperative. He added: "I honestly believe that England shouldn't find batting a problem in the first innings. It's what happens after that which counts. In India you can go through three very turgid days where the teams are about level and everybody's saying 'what boring cricket'; but when the ball starts spinning everything changes very, very quickly. "At times it is going to be hard viewing - particularly with England's line-up. Alastair Cook, Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott are not going to blast it; they are going to try and bat long and grind out the opposition. "But if England are behind on second innings they will have to be very careful because those men close in around the bat will be waiting to grab any half chance..."
Predicted teams for the first Test:
India: V Sehwag, G Gambhir, C Pujara, S Tendulkar, V Kohli, Y Singh, MS Dhoni (capt, wkt), R Ashwin, Z Khan, P Ojha, U Yadav. England: A Cook (capt), N Compton, J Trott, K Pietersen, I Bell, S Patel, M Prior (wkt), T Bresnan, S Broad, G Swann, J Anderson.

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