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'A Problem They Will Have..,' Alastair Cook Reveals Biggest Threat To ENG In IND Tests

image-lroq3m7tAlastair Cook | Source: X.com

The former England captain, Alastair Cook, believes that England's "lack of match preparation" in India ahead of the upcoming five-Test series could be a problem for the visitors. However, the team can rely on its 'Bazball' approach to outfox team India. 

Notably, Ben Stokes and Co, having selected a month-long training camp in Abu Dhabi with 'subcontinent-like conditions,' arrived in Hyderabad on Sunday, January 21 - just four days before the opening Test on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Dan Lawrence, the replacement for Harry Brook, who withdrew from the entire series for personal reasons, is still on his way to India due to visa issues. The rest of the players have reportedly resumed practice in Hyderabad.

“A problem England will have is a lack of match preparation," Cook wrote in his column for 'The Sunday Times.


“It is the nature of the modern tour. When we won in India in 2012 we had three warm-up games against good sides -- Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay were in the top four in the India A side we faced and Cheteshwar Pujara played in one of the other games," he added. 

Cook, who had top-scored with 562 runs in the 2-1 come-from-behind win over India in the 2012-13 series further added:

“I can understand why England want to practise in a controlled environment where they know what the nets and facilities are going to be like and there's nothing too unpredictable."


Cook Concerned About Home Dominance in Tests

The former England captain is of the opinion that there should have been a practice match scheduled between the two teams before the main series begins. Furthermore, the English batting giant expressed concerns over too much dominance of home sides in Test series. 

“It would be good if there were some sort of unwritten agreement between countries to put on decent practice matches in decent conditions for touring teams....at the moment too many series are totally dominated by the home side and I don't think that's healthy for Test cricket," he concluded. 

This is the first time when England is touring India for a Test series since switching to the much-discussed 'Bazball' approach. The real question is whether they can sustain their attacking style against the spin challenge posed by Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.