2024 will commence with a lot of Test cricket across the world even as India are scheduled to host England for a five-match Test series. The much-awaited series is set to commence on January 25 and will go on till March 11. All eyes will be on England's Bazball approach throughout the five Test matches and many are calling it a stern test for the Ben Stokes-led side.
Meanwhile, former England cricketer Steve Harmison has stated that a lot will depend on the way the visiting team will prepare for the series. While speaking to TALKSport Cricket Podcast, he stated England deserve to lose 5-0 against India if they land in the country three days before the start of first Test. "If England go in three days before, they deserve to get beat 5-0, they really do. I’m an old man. And that’s what they’re going to say: ‘Times have changed, the game has changed.’ But I tell you what, preparation hasn’t changed.
"You can not go into India underprepared. [In fact], you can not go into India overprepared. You could be in India six weeks before and still not be prepared for that first Test and the emotion of that," Harmison said highlighting the importance of preparation for the India series. For the unversed, India is one of the toughest places to win a Test series and the hosts haven't lost a single Test series at home since 2012. Interestingly, England, under Alastair Cook's captaincy, was the last team to beat India in India.
England captain Ben Stokes has now come up with a response to Harmison's statement saying that they will be having a camp in Abu Dhabi before travelling to India and that preparation should be good enough for them. "Good job we’re going to Abu Dhabi for a training camp before we go to India for even more training before that 1st test then isn’t it," he wrote in his tweet.
It remains to be seen if England's aggressive approach will work in India as the ball turns in the country from Day one with matches ending on Day three mostly. However, with Test venues being entirely different to normal, the pitches will be the talking points yet again during the Test series. Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala will be hosting five Tests respectively.
