If Rohit has a good tour, India's chances of winning will be more: Nehra

Former India pacer Ashish Nehra feels if opening batsman Rohit Sharma has a good England tour the chances of India winning the series against the Three Lions would increaseIndia and England will lock horns in a fivematch Test series beginning Wednesday at Trent Bridge Nottingham The series will mark the start of the second cycle of the World Test ChampionshipMayank Agarwal has been ruled out of the first Test due to a concussion Shubman Gill was ruled out earlier and Nehra believes that KL Rahul should be given a go as the opening partner to Rohit SharmaThe team management earlier said that we are looking at KL Rahul in the middle order But see I have seen KL Rahul as an opener in whiteball format Before Hanuma Vihari why not KL Rahul Although I already feel that we have too many people floating around the opening slot I hope Rohit plays all Tests If I had to take chance I would rather go in with KL Rahul as an opener said Nehra during a virtual press conference organised by Sony NetworkI really hope Rohit Sharma has a good England tour If he has a good tour then we as a team our chances will be much better If you can start well it will keep a strong foundation he addedWhen asked whether Mohammed Siraj should be given a go in the first Test Nehra said Yes Mohammed Siraj is waiting in the wings but he has to wait for his turn Everybody knows that Siraj is a very skillful bowler but here you are talking about a guy like Jasprit Bumrah who has done really well in the last fivesix years since his arrival You have to start with Jasprit Bumrah Mohammed Shami and Ishant SharmaIf you want a fourth fast bowler we are not there the captain coach and team management can take a call based on who has been bowling well Whether you want to go with Umesh Yadav or you want to play Siraj But if you are playing three seamers then you will start with Bumrah Shami and Ishant unless there is an injury to any of them he addedNehra also said that he does not agree with the concept that every bowler needs to be able to swing the ball in England to get success I dont agree that you need only swing bowlers in England Look at somebody like Stuart Broad Even Jofra Archer is not a swing bowler But they are Englands main weapons so a lot depends on how you bowl and its not like Bumrah or Shami cant swing the ball or they need one particular surface to achieve results said NehraAnswering a question of whether India has the best possible opportunity to defeat England in England with Ben Stokes opting out of the series Nehra said See you cannot say this is the best opportunity In 2007 India won 10 when Rahul Dravid was the captain but you should not think of it like a now or never situation England has resources new players are coming in and they are going through a transition Ben Stokes is not there but Buttler is there You are talking about a team sport Stokes is an allrounder but that can happen to any team India has to play really well to defeat England in EnglandWhen asked what sort of combination India should opt for in the series against England Nehra said It all depends on the surface you are playing When you talk about threefour seamers these discussions just happen when you are playing in England Australia South Africa or New Zealand There is more life on the pitches I agree but it is not like there is swing available on every pitch you playAlso Read Olympics India miss out on gold in mens hockey lose 25 to Belgium in semisIndias tour of England will be live on SONY SIX channels from 330 pm IST on August 4This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever