England vs India: Former Caribbean bowler Winston Davis banks on Kuldeep Yadav

Winston Davis, the West Indian fast bowler who played in the 1980s and is paralyzed neck down now as a result of a mishap in the Caribbeans in the late 1990s, feels the upcoming five-Test series between India and England starting August 1 will be more of an “even stevens” affair.

The 59-year-old wheelchair-bound former cricketer who is currently based in the UK is not ready to predict a clear-cut victory for the visitors and feels both sides have good pacers to match fire with fire.

“It’s even stevens. Both teams have the firepower and are strong. Remember, England have experienced seam bowlers who can be dangerous. On the other hand, India has a good pace attack,” A Mid-Day report quoted him as saying.

Davis, however, is too impressed with the name which is stealing all headlines this English summer: Kuldeep Yadav. The chinaman bowler registered his best bowling figures both in the T20Is (5 for 24) and ODIs (6 for 25) in this tour and expectations are high from him to deliver in the five-day format as well though he hasn’t played much of Test so far.

‘Yadav is a fine bowler’

“Yadav is a fine bowler. Sure, he got some stick in a couple of limited-overs games, but come to the Tests and he’ll be a different kettle of fish. The hot weather will help him as well,” Davis said.

He said England though have got better in playing spin bowling but they are yet not the best. He predicted that if Yadav got into a rhythm, the hosts would find him difficult to handle and advised the visitors to play two spinners unless given a green top.

Davis, who featured in the Caribbean squad led by Clive Lloyd which had whitewashed England 5-0 in 1984, also felt that India’s batsmen needed to score big to back their bowlers. He conceded that India has a lot of talented batsmen but they needed to deliver in England when it mattered.

The venue for the first Test match, Edgbaston, is close to Davis’s house in Worcestershire and the last time he watched a game here was last month when England defeated Australia in a T20I, thanks to Adil Rashid’s spinner. The 30-year-old spinner was recalled for the Test series against India, a move which earned criticism from certain quarters.

[interaction id=”5b5c546c96df42284bb02239″]

Stay updated on ‘today’s cricket news‘ with CricTracker.com.