IND vs ENG: England Cricket Team To Carry Their Own Chef With Them While Touring India

Published - 06 Jan 2024, 04:04 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:24 AM

England Cricket Team
England Cricket Team (Credits:X)

England will tour India for a five-match Test series which is set to begin on January 25 with the first Test to be played in Hyderabad. With the rise in popularity of Bazball and England’s recent attitude in Test cricket, it promises to be a spiced-up clash. However, English players may not be able to handle the rank turners and the spicy food in India.

For the pitch, they need to prepare on the turning tacks for a while but for the food they have a separate plan. The visitors are reportedly taking Manchester United chef Omar Meziane, who has traveled with the team in the Past when England toured Pakistan in December 2022. Ben Stokes’ side whitewashed the Men in Green in Pakistan and they hope to do the same against India.

“England will take their own chef on tour to India later this month to try and avoid players falling ill during the seven-week trip. The chef will join the squad in Hyderabad before the first Test on January 25 in an attempt to keep on top of the players’ nutrition,” The Telegraph quoted.

“England insists it has nothing to do with not trusting hotels to provide clean facilities and is instead about ensuring players, especially those who refuse to eat spicy food, are eating nutritious meals rather than filling up on energy bars and pizzas,” reported the publication.

England Was The Last Team To Win A Test Series In India

The venues for the Test series between India and England are Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamsala. England doesn’t have good memories of playing in India as they recently had a terrible outing in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 which was played in India. They finished seventh on the points table and barely qualified for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025.

It has also been reported that the England team is scheduled to come just three days before the first Test and this has invited some criticism among former players. “If England go in three days before, they deserve to get beat 5-0, they really do,” former fast bowler Steve Harmison lamented the team on a Podcast. However, they are already in UAE practicing for the Test series but the pitches in UAE differ from the pitches in India. India has rank turners which tend to finish a match in under two days if the ball starts to spin early.

England is the last team to win a Test series in India which they won back in 2012. Since then, India has hammered the opposition in home Tests and is yet to taste a series defeat. When England last toured India in 2021, they started with a win in Chennai in the first Test where Joe Root scored a double hundred. However, they lost the next three games on the trot to lose the series 3-1 against India. With Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum at the helm, who are yet to lose a test series, the English team hopes to get the better of the hosts this time.

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