Wednesday cover: Alastair Cook’s England have a fighting chance

England cricket captain Alastair Cook makes the front cover of The National Sport on Wednesday, November 9, 2016 as he prepares his side to face India in the first of five Tests, in Rajkot.

Osman Samiuddin writes how Cook’s men are the only team to win a Test series there since 2004-05, Cook, Kevin Pietersen, James Anderson and the spin pair of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar fashioning a famous 2-1 triumph in 2012-13.

Their top order, collectively, also has the second-highest batting average in the country since 2000. Cook, on whom so much will depend, loves batting in India – he averages over 60 in the country and, on average, faces over 140 balls between dismissal. That stickability will be critical, argues Samiuddin.

Read the full story here.

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