Team India will take on England in a marquee five-Test series, starting on June 20, in what is expected to be a high-octane clash between the two top sides. After India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, all eyes will be on the visitors as to whether they will be able to turn the tide and win their first Test series on English soil since 2007.
In an exclusive chat with RevSportz, former England pacer Chris Tremlett shares his thoughts on the much-talked-about India-England Test series, Jasprit Bumrah, the pressure on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to deliver, Bazball and much more.
Here are the excerpts:
Q) We saw how India did in Australia – 3-1 in favour of the home side. The next big series is India’s five-Test tour of England. Your thoughts on it?
Chris Tremlett: Quickly touching on that Australia series. It was a fantastic series to watch. It could have gone either way. I know Australia won it at the end of the day. But I think the momentum shift could have gone either way. It was great to see India really taking it to Australia in Australia, because I know how hard it is to win in Australia. I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in a tour where we won there, but I’ve also been on the receiving end where we’ve lost. So, it’s probably the hardest place to go and win a tour. But from England’s point of view, they’re going through another bit of a transitional phase.
They’ve lost some more experienced players. Obviously, they’ve adapted or adopted this sort of very aggressive style of cricket. They’re just trying to find that balance of the right team and the right way to play. They’ve got a new crop of young bowlers who are going to be tested. They’re more comfortable in their own conditions. So, I think any bowler going abroad finds that hard. But we know how strong India are at home. But also, we know when they play their best cricket, they’re very strong away from home as well. So, I think it’s going to be a fantastic series. I’m excited to see how some of the England youngsters or new breed of youngsters really step up against a pretty experienced and strong Indian side.
Q) What’s your take on Bazball? Yes, England have played an attractive brand of cricket, but result-wise they haven’t qualified for the WTC Final even once. Are you on the Bazball-hype train?
Chris Tremlett: I think people forget that England had a period before Bazball where we were playing, I think, our worst cricket, where we’re playing probably over-negative cricket. So I guess we’ve gone from one extreme to the other. There was a period of time where we adopted Bazball, I guess, if you want to call it that, where it was, as a fan, very entertaining to watch. It was game-changing. It was great to see the ball flying around and high scores being chased down in the fourth innings. I think it was always going to happen where we were going to get stuck a little bit, going away from home, in other conditions. It’s always going to be hard to play that brand of cricket all around the world and expect to win every game. As soon as that style stops working, people start to criticise it.
I wouldn’t say I’m criticising it because I think England play better when they have no fear of failure. It’s just about finding the balance of times of when to sort of push the button of being aggressive and trying to score five or six an over. They have to learn to really rein it in and consolidate at times, which is a learning curve. Especially with younger players it’s nice that they can have that freedom. Growing up, I would have liked to have had a bit more freedom as a Test cricketer because there was always a bit of a fear of failure with getting out of the team. In this day and age with the England team, there is a bit of, go out there with no fear and really express yourself. From a coaching point of view, that’s a really positive thing for players going into the side.
But over time and with experience, players have just got to work it out for themselves. You know, Ollie Pope is a prime example of that. You know, he’s very good when he gets in, but he’s very susceptible to nicking off early. So, he’s the type of player to get your eye in and then go ultra-aggressive when you’re ready to go. England are just finding that balance. I think they will be pretty aggressive against India. They’re more confident with playing that style of cricket in England, on pitches and surroundings that they’re used to.
Q) Harry Brook has been named as England’s white-ball skipper. How do you see that? Is that the way forward? Or do you think a slightly more experienced option could have been picked for now?
Chris Tremlett: It’s probably the right pick overall. Harry Brook has had a very impressive start to his career. From what I can see from the outside, he’s got a very sort of level head on his shoulders, and he wants to achieve big things in the game with England. Unfortunately, he’s pulled out of the IPL. He’s made a decision where it looks like he wants to concentrate on international cricket. That shows his commitment to international cricket. So maybe that’s a reason why they have gone down that route. I think someone like Ben Stokes may have been an option, but I’m glad they didn’t go down that route because I think Stokes has enough on his shoulders already.
Not saying he’s not a great captain because I think he is. I just think if England want to progress forward in white ball, they have to have a more longer-term approach like they did in 2015. It’s not having a complete reset because we’re still a good side. But, you know, when Eoin Morgan and Trevor Bayliss came in, they had a long-term view of how to build up a side and how they want to go forward playing cricket. Harry Brook and the management need to do that going forward. It’s an exciting transitional period in one-day cricket. You know, we did dominate for a while and won the 2019 World Cup. But unfortunately, all teams can sort of go through cycles where they’re not playing quite as well as they used to.
Q) England are going to miss Mark Wood and Olly Stone due to injuries for the India Test series. How big a blow is that? Is it a good opportunity for youngsters to step in?
Chris Tremlett: It’s a good opportunity. England have a good crop of bowlers around the country and some people wouldn’t have seen them before, even me. I don’t watch a lot of cricket, but I hear a lot of names and I’ve seen a lot of young bowlers come in. I know there’s a lot of guys out there who play franchise cricket around the world. They’re hungry to play for the England side and there’s a limited number of places.
So firstly, it opens up opportunities for guys. It’s a shame for some like Mark Wood, but we also forget that he is 35 years old. He’s not the youngest. It’s a shame that he’s not playing. But England still need to look forward and try and have some of these youngsters coming through because Mark Wood’s not going to bowl 95 miles an hour for much longer. It’s good that they can get some new guys in the team. But I think for India, they’re going to see it as an opportunity with inexperienced players coming in.
They’re going to try and be ultra-aggressive and try and make those guys feel under pressure straight away. But that’s where you’re tested as a Test cricketer or one-day cricketer, playing at that level. It’s how you step up from county cricket into international cricket. I’m looking forward to seeing how some of these younger guys perform with the ball and the bat against some top players. When you play India in the UK, it’s almost like playing away sometimes because of the fan-base that India have here. So, it’s always a fantastic place to play in England, but it’s even better when you’re playing against India just because of the added atmosphere.
Q) A few words on Jasprit Bumrah?
Chris Tremlett: He’s in a class of his own, isn’t he? He’s fantastic to watch in Test cricket, in one-day cricket, whether he’s bowling at the death in the IPL, whether he’s bowling the new ball in Test cricket, whether it’s in India, in Australia, whether it’s in England, it’s a pleasure to watch. So let’s hope that he’s fully firing for those Test matches for India. Interesting to see how much he swings the Dukes ball. Hopefully the Dukes ball will swing around this summer because, you know, we know how good Jimmy Anderson was when he used to swing it around.
So, seeing Jasprit Bumrah swing it around as well, probably at a faster pace than Jimmy Anderson is going to be great to watch. He’s certainly going to test those England opening batsmen and their middle order. So, it’s going to be fantastic to watch. Bumrah, for me, is one of the best bowlers that’s ever played the game. He’s just got the skill in every department, and he hasn’t just delivered it in more favourable positions like England, South Africa, Australia. He does it in India as well, which I know myself is a very, very tough place to bowl, if not the hardest place to bowl in the world.
Q) Is Bumrah the best bowler right now?
Chris Tremlett: In my opinion, yes. I think when he’s fit and he’s firing, I think he’s one of the best. I just think he’s great to watch. And like I said, it’s not just with the new ball, it’s in the death too. He’s got every base covered. He might not go on to take 500, 600 wickets but he will be the greatest, with his record and what he does with the ball. He’s still got a lot of cricket to play. He’s one of the best bowlers I’ve ever witnessed play when he’s at his best, for sure.
Q) We saw the struggles of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in Australia. Do you think they will find a way in England?
Chris Tremlett: I mean, as a player and a fan, I’ve always admired people like Rohit and Kohli. How they sort of deal with the pressure day-to-day and what they’ve done throughout their careers. Yes, they’ve had some sort of more negative times in Test cricket of late. But overall, I just see them as great players. Those sorts of players, their form comes in and out. It wouldn’t surprise me if those two guys go and average 50-60 in that series. Who knows, it might not be their last series in England. Australia was always a very hard place to go and play cricket.
They’re probably facing the best attack in the world in their own conditions. But the bits I watched of the ICC Champions Trophy, it looked like Rohit and Kohli found some form. They would have obviously gained a lot of confidence by winning that trophy. I know it’s a different form of cricket. But that’s not going to bother them too much. They’re going to come to the UK. They’re going to try and be ultra-aggressive and play their best game against a fairly inexperienced England bowling attack. They’re going to try and take it to them. And they’re going to have the Indian crowd also behind them. So it’s going to be great to watch. But, you know, the great players like that, you know, you never really doubt them because you never know what they can go on and achieve, even after sort of low periods.
Q) India and the UK are not only about cricket or sports. There’s a massive Asian diaspora in the UK. Have you tapped into that market?
Chris Tremlett: We’ve mainly dealt with the UK investors. But a lot of our UK investors are from an Asian or Indian background. So, we have a lot of our sort of Indian, UK Indian-based investors saying, we do feel like you have an opportunity to go abroad and help Indian investors invest into the UK. They have their sons and daughters potentially want to come in and study in the UK. India and England, there’s always that correlation with cricket and everything. So, we feel, we can offer a service where we can offer UK property in prime locations around the UK to Indian investors. So, we feel there’s a bit of a gap in the market there. Hopefully, that’s something we can pursue. We feel like there’s an opportunity to help Indian investors over here in the UK. And, you know, the UK property market has been a bit quiet of late. But for me, I feel that’s always a good opportunity to buy.
Q) Being an international cricketer, did that reputation help you initially in the property business?
Chris Tremlett: At the start, it was actually quite tough, because I’ve always been known as a cricket player. It takes a few years to build trust with people in a different sector. After a year or two, they’re still thinking, oh, what does Chris Tremlett know about property? He’s a cricketer. But over time, we’ve proved our worth. We have some very happy clients. We have about 500 properties under our management now.
We’ve been doing this business for quite a long time now. We’ve gained a lot of trust from a lot of different people. But yeah, so certainly that trust takes time to build up. As I said, I played cricket for 16 years. I’ve been doing this for 10 years now. I’m sort of pretty experienced in this sector as well. But from a point of view, coming to India, I feel like I’m obviously a familiar face in the cricketing world. Hopefully, that helps with me coming to India. I’m a fairly familiar face, which people will trust. We’re not just some random company coming over where nobody knows who we are. So, hopefully, the cricketing side, you know, gives clients a little bit of comfort knowing who we are. We’re a very legitimate company, even though we have social proof and we’ve been going for a very long time.
Q) Is India’s tour of England an opportunity to tap into the Indian market a little more?
Chris Tremlett: So, I think we’re not just seeing it as that tour only. I’ll be travelling to India quite a lot. So showing face in India, coming to meet Indian investors every month, every two months or so. It’s going to be great, actually, because the site we’re working on at the moment is actually next to the Oval Cricket Ground. So, the Indian team and the Indian fans will get a glance of the site because obviously everyone knows the Oval Cricket Ground, how much of a famous ground that is. They play their last Test match there. You’ll see these apartments being built. Yeah, we won’t be necessarily trying to market or target our business during this test series only. We look forward to meeting many Indian investors over the next upcoming weeks and months.