Cricket: 'Won't be surprising if England prepare grassy pitches but expect 'Indian summer' - Sunil Gavaskar on India's tour of England

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has said that it won’t be surprising if England prepare green tracks for India in the upcoming five-Test series against India, scheduled to commence from August 4, after the conclusion of the ICC World Test Championship final.

Gavaskar, while recalling the criticism of Indian pitches when England visited India earlier in the year, said there was a lot of “moaning” about the tracks during the four-Test series, played in Chennai and Ahmedabad.

"Having moaned about the pitches in India earlier this year, it won't be a surprise if the groundsman in England leaves a little grass on the surface,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for The Telegraph.

However, the legendary Indian cricketer added that grassy pitches will no longer bother Virat Kohli and Co due to the quality of pace bowlers in the set-up while further saying that India have the bowling attack to give “problems” to the hosts.

“That is no longer a worry as India have an attack that will also thrive on it and cause problems for the England batsmen too," Gavaskar added.

Gavaskar further opined that the gap of 40 days between the WTC final and England Test series will allow India to prepare enough for the five-match rubber by playing some practice matches.

"The summer in England promises to be the golden summer of Indian cricket. After the WTC finals, there is a gap of about six weeks before the Test series starts against England and that should be enough for the team to play some practice games and tune-up for what England can hurl at them,” he wrote.

The iconic former Indian opener went on to say that the chances are high that it will be an “Indian summer” hinting that the visitors can pull off a series win on English conditions.

“It is foolish to try and predict the score but it looks like it will be an Indian summer in England," he added.