If England have any chance of success at Nagpur — and sheer sporting logic dictates that any team in any contest always has a chance — it revolves around three batsmen. One rookie and two yet to acquire expertise in the role; slim chance, but chance nonetheless. The surprise package is Alastair Cook, tipped to open with Andrew Strauss. Though his journey here took him halfway across the world for a late entry to the tour, he is no stranger to these parts. Last year, his county Essex sent him on a tour of India to hone his batting skills on slow sub-continent wickets. The year before that he led the Under-19 team at the World Cup in Bangladesh, where they reached the semi-finals. Word of his exploits there reached the Indian seniors, as Rahul Dravid noted today. ‘‘We have quite a few players who have either seen him playing in England or at the Under-19 level. We discussed his batting’’, the India captain said. If Cook’s strength is his knowledge of local conditions, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell have established reputations — relatively speaking — of being players of spin. Pietersen played all the five Ashes Tests, scoring a century and three fifties at an average of 52.56 — and a strike rate of 76.40. He fell three times to Shane Warne but his century came in the last Test at The Oval, as Warne ran through the rest of the attack. The ball was turning viciously and the leggie looked as though he’d turn around the series single handed. A naturally aggressive bat, what impressed in that innings — even on a TV screen miles away — was his footwork against the leg-spinner and the manner in which he attacked the turning ball, offering maximum strokes and as late as possible. Bell’s turn came on England’s forgettable tour of Pakistan last year, where he scored two fifties and a hundred at an average of 52.12, falling to Danish Kaneria only once in six innings. Though England lost the series 0-2, Bell and Pietersen helped the side draw the second Test with a 154-run partnership for the fifth wicket. However, Bell’s more impressive knock was the 92 in the third Test, when he fought a lone battle on the last day of the Test.
