India vs England: England’s Batting Weak And Vulnerable, Playing as if They Are Touring India, Says Harbhajan Singh

India vs England: "The English batting line-up looks more problematic than the Indian batting at the moment. They are playing as if they are touring India, and not the other way round," Harbhajan Singh told PTI.

Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has criticised England’s batting line-up, saying batsmen of the Joe Root-led side are playing as if they are touring India.

Lagging 0-2 after losing the first two Tests, India produced a stupendous performance at Trent Bridge, dismissing England’s second innings for 317 to register a massive 203-run win on Thursday.

“The English batting line-up looks more problematic than the Indian batting at the moment. They are playing as if they are touring India, and not the other way round,” Singh told PTI.

“Their batting line-up is more vulnerable to both pace and spin, and they look weak. Some of their first-choice batsmen have an ordinary record in domestic cricket, averaging 30-35 at best. In India, you have to average over 50 to be even considered. They have good depth in ODI cricket but in Tests, their batting has not done much,” he added.

The veteran off-spinner feels the Virat Kohli-led side face a lot of unnecessary flak after going down 0-2 in the ongoing five-match series.

“It is not easy to come and play in England. You cannot say that previous Indian teams did better here. Apart from 2007, when did we last win a series in England? We tend to over-react easily and criticise too early,” Singh said.

“It takes time to get used to conditions in England. You can practice as much as you want but match conditions are different from nets. The Birmingham Test was so close, and if India had won there narrowly (instead of losing), we wouldn’t have had so much criticism and the series would currently be 2-1 to India instead,” he added.

Going into the fourth Test in Southampton, Singh backs India to register victory at the Rose Bowl.

“After such a performance I back India to win the next Test in Southampton, and then anything can happen in the Oval Test. At the Oval, we could get a true Indian wicket with lot of bounce and lateral movement is less there as well,” he said.

“So, conditions could favour India and we could even play two spinners. I think India have a very good chance (of winning the series 3-2),” he added.

England, after winning at Edgbaston (31 runs) and Lord’s (inning and 159 runs), England still lead the series 2-1. The two teams will now face each other in the fourth Test beginning August 30.

(With PTI inputs)