India vs England: Kevin Pietersen believes Virat Kohli & Co will win the Test series, here's the reason why

New Delhi, February 2: Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen believes India are favourites going into four-Test series against England, starting Friday (February 5) at MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Pietersen while speaking exclusively on Star Sports show CRICKET CONNECTED, termed the hosts as the favourites because he feels the tourists haven't taken their best team, "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. I think Johnny Bairstow has to be there and I don't think he's going to be there. India are definitely favourites. 100% they're the favourites because England haven't taken their best team or they're certainly not starting with their best team."

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Pietersen also analysed the important storylines to watch out for ahead of the India-England Test series for both the teams boast of some big names in the red-ball format. Also, the former England captain is interested in seeing how the dynamics between Ajinkya Rahane - who led Team India to glory in Australia in Virat Kohli's absence - and Kohli - who is back at the helm - is going to be.

"Kohli, Anderson, Ajinkya Rahane, how's he going to go, being captain in Australia and then coming back and Kohli, how's that dynamic going to work? It's going to be a very interesting dynamic. I think that might be, something that is talked about a lot during this series."

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Talking about the match-up between English pace sensation and India's 'new wall' Cheteshwar Pujara, and Bumrah playing his first Test at home, Pietersen added further, "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.

Talking about England captain and batting mainstay, who is coming back from a brilliant tour of Sri Lanka, and other England batsmen Pietersen said, "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? Ben Stokes is there, and he's an absolute superstar. Is Anderson going to be able to do the business? Then, you have got Ashwin, Bumrah, Kohli, Rahane, Pujara...there are too many superstars for me to sit here and pick one player in particular. I just think that it's going to be a fantastic series - slow wickets, but two great teams!"