'Hope England Tests Last For 5 Days Unless...': India Great's Cheeky Statement

Legendary India cricketer Farokh Engineer said that England should be afraid of Rohit Sharma and Co irrespective of whether they adopt the Bazball approach or not. During the BCCI Awards 2024, Engineer received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award and during his speech, he praised the current Indian team as the 'finest' he has ever seen. He praised Rohit as well the duo of Rahul Dravid and Ravi Shastri for their work as the team's head coach. The former wicket-keeper batter also said that he hopes the matches in the upcoming Test series between India and England will last for five days unless they end in the hosts' favour.

"It is an honour to get a standing ovation from the finest Indian team that has ever been. Collectively, Rohit and the boys have done exceptionally well. Ravi Shastri did a great job and Rahul (Dravid) has carried on the good work. You are just so strong in every department. I am sure every team will fear you all and should fear you all. Bazball or not. I don't know if Brendon (McCullum) is here or not," he said.

"I hope the matches last for five days unless it is in India's favour of course," Engineer added.

Farokh was well known for his craftmanship with the bat and agility behind the stumps. His skillset made him best suited for keeping to the legendary spin quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan.

Farokh during his career played 46 Test matches for India and amassed 2611 runs which included two centuries and 16 half-centuries.

His most memorable moment as a batsman was against West Indies at Madras in 1966-67. He scored 94 before lunch on the first day against the iconic pacers Wes Hall, Charles Griffith, Gary Sobers and spinner Richard Gibbs.

(With ANI inputs)