Sachin Tendulkar backs India to beat England 3-1

LEEDS: India’s batting great Sachin Tendulkar backed India to secure a 3-1 victory in their five-match away Test series against England, scheduled to commence on Friday.

The upcoming series is of great significance for the two-time World Test Championship (WTC) runners-up as they will embark on a new era under the leadership of Shubman Gill following the retirements of veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Ahead of the all-important series, Tendulkar advised Gill to ‘shut the doors’ to outside noise as he expressed his confidence in the 25-year-old to do ‘something special’ for India.

"My advice to him [Gill] would be that he should not worry about what x, y, z is saying," Tendulkar was quoted as saying by an international cricket news website.

"His captaincy, whether Shubman is being aggressive, or defensive, or attacking enough, or not a proactive captain, or active captain - whatever that opinion is, it's only an opinion and it's from outside. I think what he needs to think about is what was discussed in the dressing room - when they are planning something, are they going according to that plan and whether the decision being made is in the interests of the team - that is what he needs to think about and not about the outside world.

"The outside world can only give opinions. These guys can go out and play as well, and only the dressing room will have that honour. No one else will have that. I would say, just go out, it's a huge honour, enjoy the moment and give your best for the country and do what is in the interest of the country. Other than that, I would say shut the doors to everything. I think that should be his thought process."

India last won a Test series in India in 2007 when they triumphed 1-0 in a four-match series. Tendulkar played a pivotal role in the historic series victory as he top-scored with 91 in the first innings of the second Test, the only fixture which produced a result as the rest were drawn.

While reflecting on the historic triumph, Sachin Tendulkar expressed confidence in the current India team to emulate such success before predicting a 3-1 scoreline in the visitors’ favour.

"Winning the series was a fabulous, fabulous moment - that is what we strive for," he said, looking back at the 2007 series. "There were multiple good performances by individuals… Zaheer [Khan] played a role. I think everyone coming together and then chipping in at the right time makes a big difference. I still remember we were in the dressing room, celebrating at The Oval, the last Test. These kinds of moments stay with you forever. We're still talking about it 18 years down the line. I hope we're able to do something this series too, so 20 years down the line we can still talk about it."

"I have settled for 3-1 to India."