Graham Gooch is backing Sachin Tendulkar to register his maiden Test century at Lord's in the first Test against England, starting Thursday.
"Sachin would like to put it right. After all, he has scored runs all around the world. They have got an honours board at Lord's, and, obviously, he would like to get his name there. He is in very good form and, maybe, he is due to score a hundred there," the former England Test captain said.
Tendulkar has played three Tests at the historic Lord's cricket ground, scoring 96 runs at a lowly average of 19.20. He played his first Test there as a 17-year-old in July 1990 but failed to impress, scoring 10 and 27 in the two innings.
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Incidentally, it was in the same match that Gooch scored a record 333 in the first innings and followed it up with 123 in the second to lead England to a crushing 247-run victory. The man himself admits that it is a special feeling to register a century at Lord's.
"There is no better place to score a hundred. It's a beautiful place, in my opinion the best ground in the world," said Gooch.
Tendulkar has warmed up for the task at hand in style, hammering 171 in the three-day tour match against England Lions in Chelmsford.
"What I liked about Sachin's innings was the way he counter attacked. India lost three early wickets and he came out and repaired the damage. He played his shots and tried to put the pressure back on the England Lions' bowlers. It was a brilliant innings to watch; he seems to have lost none of his old powers and skills," said Gooch.
The 53-year-old added that Tendulkar's innings was a lesson on how to score a hundred under pressure.
"In the end he gave an exhibition of how to score a hundred and how to play your shots. It will make for an interesting contest in the first Test at Lord's, starting next week. I am sure he would love to score a hundred at Lord's having never scored one there."
Gooch believes that the forthcoming three-Test series will be closely-fought, and India will need to work hard to post their first series in England since 1986.
"I think it will be a good contest. India have a very strong middle order, some experienced players -- few of them coming for their second or third tour to England and they would want to make a good impression.
"[Sourav] Ganguly, [Sachin] Tendulkar, [Rahul] Dravid and [VVS] Laxman -- it is a strong batting line-up on paper. But you don't score runs on paper, you score them out in the middle. So that would be a true test for the England bowlers," he said.
Gooch believes the contest will boil down to the impact the two bowling attacks can make.
"I think the true match-up would be whether the England bowlers can dismiss India twice and also whether the inexperienced bowling attack in Sreesanth, R P Singh, Zaheer Khan and Kumble can dismiss England twice," he said.
India have a relatively inexperienced bowling attack, with just one bowler in Anil Kumble (115) having played over 50 Tests. Zaheer Khan comes a distant second with 47 Tests to his credit, while Sreesanth (8) R P Singh (4), Ramesh Powar (2), Ishant Sharma (1) and Ranadeb Bose have played 15 Tests between them.
England suffered a big jolt when lead bowler Steve Harmison was ruled out due to a hernia problem.
"I think it is a little bit of a setback. He is the sort of penetrative bowler in the England side. He is the one who leads the attack. But, at the same time, he has not been in great form this summer; he has not been at his best. I don't think they would miss his bowling as much as some people suggest.
"England have called up young Stuart Broad and he would be a great replacement. It would be interesting to see how he goes. He is a young cricketer for the future.
"England have lost their strike bowler and they would be relying more on guile and swing with Matthew Hoggard," he added.
His prediction for the series?
"I am Englishman, so I would pick England to win the series. It could go either way, but I would like to think England will win it 1-0."
