IND vs ENG: England Prepare For India Challenge In World Class Abu Dhabi Facility With 4 Grounds, 65 Pitches

England are leaving no stone unturned to prepare for the upcoming five-match Test series against India. The highly-anticipated five-match Test series is scheduled to get underway on January 25 in Hyderabad.

After struggling to do well in their last two Test series in India, the tourists are eyeing their first Test series win in the country since the legendary Alastair Cook led them to a famous 2-1 series win in the 2012/13 season. Many believe that the current England team has the potential to beat India in the upcoming Test series. India have not lost a Test series at home since the loss against England in 2012/13.

In the 2016/17 season, England lost the five-match Test series in India by a margin of 4-0 before being thrashed 3-1 in the 2020/21 season. The visitors, however, will enter the upcoming series full of confidence as they have done well in Tests under the captaincy of Ben Stokes. They are yet to lose a Test series since Stokes replaced Joe Root as the captain of the team.

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

England to have India-like conditions in the UAE:

Teams have struggled to beat India in their backyard in recent times and England are well aware of the challenge. To prepare themselves for the challenging series, they have decided to set up a training camp in the UAE where the English players will have India-like conditions at their disposal.

As per a report in The Daily Mail, Stokes and his teammates will spend nine days in the world-class facilities of Abu Dhabi which will give them everything they need to counter the challenges in India. Speaking about the conditions and facilities in Abu Dhabi, former England spinner Graeme Swann said:

“The facilities are ridiculously good. In that part of the world, they can give you what you want on request. If I said to the groundsman, ‘I’d like a day-nine Test pitch in India’, he was more than happy for me to go out there with my spikes on and create what England may well face.

“It’s brilliant. The way you’re able to prepare there is second to none and I wish we had it back in my day. We could never do the sort of training they do now. I wouldn’t accept at all that England will be under-done when they get to Hyderabad. They will arrive there ready to play in the first Test far more than if they had a tin-pot warm-up game in India,” he added.

The report further stated that the Abu Dhabi Cricket and Sports Hub has 65 pitches across four grounds and 22 outdoor turf nets. The facilities will make it possible for the English team to practice in conditions that await them in India.