Hosts India will lock horns with England in a five-match Test series starting on January 25. Following their effective new ‘Bazball’ approach in the longest format of the game under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, England will tour India for the very first time.
England is currently preparing for the Test series with an 11-day training camp in Abu Dhabi. They will not play any warm-up matches in India before the first Test. They will arrive in Hyderabad three days before the start of the first match.
However, former England Test cricketer turned expert Mark Butcher is ‘terrified’ about England’s chances in the Test series in India without having any warm-up matches.
“Frankly I would be a little bit terrified if I was playing. Most of the guys haven’t played any long form cricket since July. Very few of the squad were involved a great deal in the rundown of the County Championship which finished at the back end of September. We’re now three months down the road with nobody having had any sort of middle practice at all,” said Butcher during a recent interaction.
“I would be a little bit concerned about not having felt that competition, being out in the middle and taking guard on something where the runs you make and your wicket are important,” he added.
Read: Former England star ‘Terrified’ Ahead of Test Series Against India