Veteran England off-spinner Graeme Swann said that the hosts will have a slight edge over the Indian cricket team in the rescheduled fifth Test starting in Birmingham on Friday. India were leading the series 2-1 last year before the final Test was abandoned owing to a COVID-19 outbreak in the visitors’ camp.
The scheme of things will be a bit different for both teams from last time. Both teams have got new captains in Ben Stokes and Rohit Sharma along with new head coaches in Rahul Dravid and Brendon McCullum.
England have played fearless cricket under new management in Test cricket as they completed a 3-0 series whitewash against New Zealand after winning the third and final Test by seven wickets on Monday.
“England are in a very good position and I would say they are slight favourites because of that series (against New Zealand),” Swann said in a virtual interaction, facilitated by Sony Sports, official broadcasters of the India-England series.
“And the fact that India just had one (warm-up) game in England, so they are coming in cold (for) the Test match, which is a bit of disadvantage. They (England) have got the three-Test matches under their belt, so that makes them pre-game favourites.”
