Ex-India Opener Blames IPL To Give Test Reminder vs England

High from their Champions Trophy 2025 victory at the Dubai International Stadium with an unbeaten run in the campaign, India goes to a break in international cricket as the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) will begin on March 22, with most of the players slowly joining their respective franchises.

After the end of the T20 league, the Blue Brigade will face the Test challenge of five games in England, as the former batter and commentator, Navjot Singh Sidhu, feels that they should start preparation early for the challenge against the dukes ball.

Navjot Singh Sidhu considers IPL to spoil Test Preparation

The former opening batter reckoned that none of the national players would be ready to sit out of the IPL, and that might cost them the preparation to adjust to the new conditions. He also pointed out that because of their Tests starting in June, there will be more lively grass on the surface.

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“The thing to be worried about is that the IPL is now coming up next. No one is ready to sit out the IPL. They will play the league, and then all of a sudden comes the England tour. Conditions will shift from the North Pole to the South Pole. Completely different.” Navjot Singh Sidhu expressed during a recent interaction on Sports Tak.

“Moreover, India's last Test series in England had started on August 4. This time, it is ending on August 2. The matches are in June and July. There will be grass and moisture, and the air will be so heavy that the ball will gain ample movement. And then it will move more off the seam.” The former opener added.

Sidhu feels England, under Ben Stokes’ captaincy, will come as a wounded Tiger, having failed to qualify in the semifinal of the last two ODI ICC tournaments.

Ex-India opener rues absence of Hardik Pandya in Tests

Sidhu feels that it would be a huge challenge for the management to fill up the gap between Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel in the Test-playing eleven. He doesn’t believe Ravindra Jadeja to pick five wickets in an inning in England.

“India's biggest problem is that in the middle order, there are no all-rounders the way you see in white ball cricket. Is there a Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, or Axar Patel? There is only Jadeja among these three, and even he will be limited there. Will he take 4-5 wickets in an innings there? No.” Sidhu remarked.

Jasprit Bumrah’s availability for the trip is not confirmed while Mohammed Shami could mark his Test return after two years, as it will be another comeback for Mohammed Siraj, who was dropped for the Champions Trophy 2025.

“For that you have to depend on someone like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, maybe Arshdeep Singh. You will have to bring a mystery spinner with all of them, that is England's weakness. But India won't expose Varun Chakravarthy. Or else they will play Kuldeep.” Sidhu elaborated.

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“So if these are your four bowlers, none of them bat. Then, there is the problem of how to strengthen the batting order. These are the questions standing in front of India.” The former opening batter concluded.

India’s recent Test struggle

The Rohit Sharma-led side, with two successive Test series defeats, one at home against New Zealand with a 3-0 margin and the other down under in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 by 3-1 margin, failed to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2024-25 final.

The two-time runners-up of the event failed to reach the final of the third edition and now will start the fourth cycle against England in June.