Kevin Pietersen explains why India have an upper hand over England in upcoming Test series

Former English skipper  Kevin Pietersen has explained why Team India have the upper hand over England in the upcoming four-match Test series starting Friday. Star batsman Jonny Bairstow has been rested for the first two Tests that will be played in Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium on February 5-9 & 13-17 respectively.

Pietersen feels since England has not picked their best side for the first two games, it makes India favourites for the red-ball leg of the home bilateral series.

'India's got experience at home': Kevin Pietersen

"India's got experience at home, they definitely do. They've got Kohli coming back. England has not taken their best team for the first two Test matches," said Pietersen on Star Sports show Cricket Connected.

"I think Johnny Bairstow has to be there and I don't think he's going to be there. India are definitely favorites. 100% they're the favorites because England haven't taken their best team or they're certainly not starting with their best team," he added.

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'Then you have got...'

At the same time, KP also wondered whether regular skipper Virat Kohli who makes his return to the cricket field after nearly two months (paternity leave) be able to rediscover his rhythm after his deputy Ajinkya Rahane had played a pivotal role in leading India to a historic series triumph Down Under recently.

Apart from that, the 2010 T20 World Cup winner also heaped praise on Joe Root's splendid form in the recently-concluded Sri Lanka Test series and wondered whether England's Test openers Zak Crawley and, Dominic Sibley have got enough time to turn their techniques around.

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"Then you have got Jofra Archer, can he knock over Pujara? Bumrah's back... there are so many different permutations that could happen in this Test series, but I think there's going to be a very interesting story that's going to run through this series - Kohli comes back as captain after Ajinkya Rahane was so good in Australia," Pietersen added.

"I know Joe Root has been outstanding in Sri Lanka, so he's clearly somebody who's going to come in with a lot of form. England's opening batsmen - have they got enough time to turn their techniques around? Sibley did well in the last Test match. Has Crawley got enough time to turn his technique around? Is Burns going to come back in?", the cricketer-turned-commentator/analyst further added.

Root had amassed 426 runs in four innings at an average of 106.50 in the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka in their own backyard where England completed a 2-0 whitewash. The current English Test skipper had scored 228 in the first Test and 186 in the second. 

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(With ANI Inputs)