England v India: Which team has a better bowling unit?

India are set to commence their 2021–2023 World Test Championship campaign against England. Virat Kohli and Co. will be involved in a five-match Test series, starting on Wednesday (August 4), and their very first assignment will arguably be their toughest in the new cycle. India have won only two of their last 15 Tests in England and have lost 12. India and England might have a fragile batting unit but both teams have some world-class bowlers.

Here, we look at both India and England's bowling line-up and compare them against each other.

FAST BOWLERS

(Options - James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, Sam Curran, Craig Overton, Ollie Robinson, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur)

Amongst teams who have played at least 10 Tests since 2019, the Indian pace attack has the best bowling average (22.5) and strike rate (45.5). The Indian seamers have transformed a lot in the last couple of years and have become a formidable force in the longest format of the game. The likes of Bumrah, Ishant, Shami and Umesh have been around for quite some time now and have proven themselves in all parts of the world. The England fast bowling unit will obviously have an advantage because of their home conditions but India too have pacers who could go toe to toe against James Anderson and Co., like they did in 2018.

Not just that, India now have enough depth in their arsenal to compete with the likes of England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand in the fast bowling department. They didn't have Bumrah, Shami, Ishant and Umesh in the series-decider against Australia at the Gabba and had to go with the pace trio of Siraj, Thakur and T Natarajan. The latter was making his debut, while Thakur had played only one Test, in which he only bowled 10 deliveries before getting injured. Siraj was the most experienced pacer among them and even he had played only two Tests till then. But, not a single one of them featured in the WTC final against New Zealand.

However, there are some concerns too. Bumrah has been Kohli's go-to man in all three formats but the right-arm paceman hasn't been at his best of late. The 27-year-old operated at an average of 19.2 from 2018 to 2019 but that number has gone up to 35 since 2020. Bumrah suffered a stress fracture in his back in the latter half of 2019 and that surely has affected his bowling. He still has decent numbers against the right-handers (average 28.8) but has struggled big time against the left-handed batsmen (71.7). He looked way out of rhythm in the WTC final and was easily India's least effective bowler. Even in the warm-up game against County Select XI, Bumrah kept bowling back-of-a-length deliveries which the batters defended with ease.

Meanwhile, Shami doesn't have a great record in England but he was India's best seamer in the WTC final. The right-arm paceman has played Test cricket in seven countries but has the worst record in England - an average of 43.8 and a strike rate of 73.8. Shami was "unlucky" during the 2018 tour and averaged 38.87 despite inducing the most number of false shots in the entire series. One of the reasons why he didn't take too many wickets was because he didn't bowl too many full-length deliveries, something that he did in the WTC final and picked up four wickets in the first innings.

If there is one Indian fast bowler who has been consistent in all conditions, it's Ishant. The 102-Test veteran has transformed himself into a different beast altogether since 2018 and provides that much-needed control, allowing Bumrah and Shami to attack freely. India also have Siraj, Umesh and Thakur in their armoury. The latter is the only one who could offer something with the bat, while Siraj has made quite a name for himself in red-ball cricket. The fast bowler from Hyderabad will get a game at some point of the series even if India start with Bumrah, Ishant and Shami.

Now, talking about England, senior men Anderson and Broad are still as intimidating as ever in English conditions. The two of them were phenomenal in the inaugural edition of the WTC and will be eager to make an impact against India once again. Anderson (average 23.7, strike rate 49.7) and Broad (21, 47.9) have a solid record against India in England and have got the better of the current crop of Indian batsmen in the past. We all know what Anderson did to Kohli in 2014, while Pujara too averages just 17.2 in England against the fourth-leading wicket-taker in Test cricket. Meanwhile, Broad has dismissed Rahane five times.

Not just them, India will also be wary of Curran, Wood and Robinson. The former was named Player of the Series when India toured England in 2018, while Wood brings in that much-needed X-factor with his pace. Then there's Robinson who was super impressive on his debut against New Zealand in June, picking up seven wickets in the game. However, things went downhill from there as he received an eight-game ban, five of them deferred, for racist and sexist tweets he posted in 2012 and 2013 that came to light again during his debut Test. But a disciplinary hearing paved the way for the seamer to feature against India after deeming Robinson had already served a three-game ban and the 27-year-old will be itching to make his presence felt on the field.    

SPINNERS

(Options - R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Dominic Bess, Jack Leach)

If there's one facet of the game in which India are miles ahead of England, it's the spin department. Ashwin and Jadeja combined have close to 650 Test wickets, while Axar has only featured in three Tests and has 27 wickets to his name, all against England earlier this year. Let's talk about Ashwin first. The offspinner has always been a formidable force at home but has now also started taking wickets in SENA countries. The 34-year-old recently took 12 wickets in three Tests at 28.83 in Australia and then claimed four scalps in the WTC final. He also played a County Championship match for Surrey last month and took 6/27 in the second innings against Somerset. Overall, Ashwin has a pretty decent record in England - 18 wickets in seven Tests at 28.1.

India don't have a fast-bowling all-rounder in their squad and that's why Jadeja's role becomes important despite being a spinner. The 32-year-old has played six Tests in England, scoring 307 runs at 27.91. On top of that, he has taken 17 wickets in those games at an average of 42.5. Considering India don't have Hardik Pandya, it will be difficult for them to leave out Jadeja. The visitors don't really have a better option than him for the number 7 spot. However, if India want to go with four seamers, Ashwin will have to bat at seven.

Meanwhile, the hosts will have to rely on Leach and Bess to do the job for them. The latter has been inconsistent and England are most likely to start with Leach. The left-arm spinner played all the four Tests in India and took 18 wickets at 28.72. Rishabh Pant took the attack to him in the first Test but the 30-year-old kept improving throughout the course of the series and troubled most of the Indian batsmen who also have a strange history of struggling against spinners in England.