LONDON, July 18, (AFP): England selector Geoff Miller has warned India that Andrew Strauss’s team are in the perfect form to take advantage if the tourists are below their best in the first Test at Lord’s.
India have struggled against Somerset during their only warm-up match ahead of Thursday’s clash in London and Miller believes they could pay the price for such a short preparation period.
Somerset piled up a massive 425-3 declared before bowling out India for just 224 and then cruising to 260-2 in the second innings of the drawn match. To make matters worse for India, England Test captain Strauss rediscovered his form with scores of 78 and 109.
Miller hopes England take advantage of India’s struggles and he said: “It’s tough for India to come straight over from the West Indies and play in our conditions. It hasn’t been ideal preparation for them.
“They didn’t seem to do particularly well with the bat the other day in their first innings against Somerset - but that doesn’t mean they won’t be able to turn it on at Lord’s.
“We prepare very thoroughly and are ready. So we hope we can hit the ground running and I’m sure we will. We’re playing good cricket at the moment, and India will have to play very well to actually combat that.

“We know they’re a good side and it could be a fascinating series.”
Miller named a 12-man England squad on Sunday ahead of the Lord’s clash, which included a return for Nottinghamshire pace bowler Stuart Board.
Miller revealed that a scouting trip in Nottingham had persuaded him and his colleagues Broad is returning to form in time for England’s major assignment of the summer against the world’s number one Test team.
Broad, almost bereft of international wickets so far this season as he has made his way back after a winter wrecked by injury, was dropped for England’s one-day decider against Sri Lanka last weekend to accommodate an extra spinner at Old Trafford.
Instead he played in a County Championship match for Nottinghamshire at home to Somerset last week and responded with match figures of 6-162 on a benign surface.
“We watched him bowl at Trent Bridge in the four-day game,” Miller told Sky Sports News.
“There were signs he was getting back to where he was. We know what he is capable of doing, and when he puts on that England shirt we feel sure he will show exactly that and produce the goods and make it difficult for India.”

The absence of hard-hitting Virender Sehwag could affect India’s hopes of imposing themselves early in the Test series in England that starts Thursday, former Australia captain Ian Chappell has warned.
Opener Sehwag, known for dominating bowlers with exciting strokeplay, is recovering from a shoulder injury and set to miss the first two Tests of the four-match series.
“There’s no batsman in the world who can disrupt bowling plans quicker than Sehwag,” Chappell wrote in his Sunday column on the ESPN Cricinfo website.
“It appears that fate has come down ever so slightly in England’s favour. The first two venues in this series, Lord’s and Trent Bridge, are known to favour swing bowling.
“England’s ability to swing both the new and old ball is a big reason behind their recent rise up the rankings. In addition, India are missing their greatest counter-attacking weapon.”
Sehwag played a key role in India’s six-wicket win over England in the first Test of the last series between the two countries in 2008 when he hammered a 68-ball 83 to help his team achieve a stiff 387-run target in Chennai.

“The one time a captain should not be overly cautious is at the start of a series, when a team can take a huge step towards mental superiority by being aggressive,” said Chappell.
“This is where Sehwag’s absence hurts India; being at the top of the order, he’s likely to gain the upper hand in the series just by batting normally in the first session.”
Sehwag has so far scored 7,694 runs in 87 Tests with 22 centuries since making his debut in 2001.
The match at Lord’s will be the 2,000th Test, with Indian batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar on the verge of an unprecedented 100th international century. He has already scored 51 hundreds in Tests and 48 in one-day internationals.
India, who won their last Test series in England in 2007 under Rahul Dravid, will also play five one-day internationals and a one-off Twenty20 match during the tour.