A whole lot of unknowns: England v India series preview

We preview the upcoming England v India Test series - that has had one of the most lukewarm build-ups in a time of Covid, The Olympics, and The Hundred.

It's a time of bio-bubbles, quarantines, injuries, mental health and player rotation. And hopefully some memorable cricket too.

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Talking Points

• The new Covid normal in cricket's landscape


• Separate teams for Tests and short-form cricket - the pros, the cons, and the economics


• The constant existential threat facing Test cricket


• How does one put a value to Test cricket?


• Monetizing stories, memory, and legacies


• Ben Stokes' absence and implications for mental health in cricket


• India's recent history in England - with their last win coming in 2007


• How 4-1 didn't tell the story of the close series in 2018


• India's fast bowling attack maturing over the last three years


• Bowling in England and New Zealand versus bowling elsewhere


• India's selection quandary - in the light of the feeble lower order


• Mayank Agarwal v Prithvi Shaw


• The temptation to pick Shardul Thakur


• England's thin top-order - and the wealth of seam bowling options


• Predictions

Participants:

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee)

Ashoka (@ABVan)

Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd)

Related:

Ken Barrington's demons -  Gideon Haigh - The Cricket Monthly

'I've found my love for the game in the last couple of years' - Abhinav Mukund interview - 81allout podcast

'It's ok to take a break, it's ok to speak up' - Abhinav Mukund column - cricbuzz.com

'It takes time to understand what makes you tick' - Aakash Chopra interview - 81allout podcast

Test of time - Wright Thompson - ESPN

India have a tailender problem - Karthik Krishnaswamy - ESPNcricinfo

The art of Bedi - Suresh Menon about his biography of Bishan Bedi - 81allout podcast