The England cricket team arrived in Hyderabad on Sunday evening for the five-match Test series vs India. The series opener gets underway on January 25 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium and it came as a surprise to many, especially in England, that Ben Stokes and Co. chose to prepare for the gruelling away series over 2,000 kms away in Abu Dhabi. Instead of playing warm-up fixtures in India, England opted for an extended 10-day training camp at the Abu Dhabi Sports Hub at Zayed Cricket Stadium.
England are not the only team to ditch the traditional approach of playing warm-up fixtures and it’s something which visiting teams prefer ahead of challenging away tours. When Australia toured India last year, they camped in Bengaluru doing their match simulations and drills. Similarly, when India toured South Africa last year, they played an intra-squad game instead of facing a South Africa A team or a local domestic side. It’s starting to become the new normal as all visiting teams have time and again voiced their concerns regarding the practice surfaces and bowlers they get for preparations.
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After the Centurion defeat in December last year, India captain Rohit Sharma had emphasised on the stark difference in conditions for practice and matches. To counter that, India opted for a closed-doors inter-squad practice match.
“When we went to Australia the last time, when we played in South Africa in 2018, the ball didn’t bounce beyond the knee-roll on practice pitches. But here, the ball flies over your head. So, all these things were considered and we decided to prepare according to our own style,” Rohit had said on India’s preparations.
Sometime during the South Africa Test series, former India coach Ravi Shastri also highlighted while doing commentary why it’s important to have discussions between cricket boards and the importance of quality practice conditions ahead of challenging away assignments.
Taking the first initiative to restore the old order, India fielded a strong A team for the three games vs England Lions and were expecting some members of the visitors’ Test squad to feature in one of the games. Ahead of the opening Test, coach Rahul Dravid revealed how he and chairman of selection committee Ajit Agarkar decided to pull some players out of Ranji teams to ensure a competitive A squad for the visitors.
“To be very honest and I was speaking to Ajit [about this], but I thought England would come and play one of the A games with some of their players. We put out a very competitive A team, pulled a lot of our players out of the Ranji teams so that they get to play A team cricket. Lot of our guys who are pushing for selection for this team [were picked as well]. So we are trying to put out competitive teams for oppositions when they come out here to play tour games, hoping that that will be reciprocated when we go there,” Dravid said.
Apart from staying away from the glare of Indian media and preparing away from all the chatter, ensuring quality practice sessions was a top priority for the England camp. In a Sky Sports podcast, England batter Ben Duckett emphasised that facing rookie spinners in the nets wouldn’t have done their preparations any good.
“There probably are loads of spinners in India, but none of them are (Ravindra) Jadeja, Axar Patel and (Ravichandran) Ashwin. You might face a 15-year-old off-spinner in the nets, but that’s not really going to equip you for the first Test,” said Duckett.
It’s a growing concern within visiting nations these days and it’s the prime reason why they stick to their own ways. With India taking the first initiative by fielding a competitive A squad for England Lions, it’s time other teams start reciprocating the same. The trust, which has now clearly evaporated, needs to return and it can only happen if cricket boards take the initiative and then get similar treatment.
With the World Test Championship cycle becoming very competitive and all teams looking to make most of the home conditions, it’s very important the visiting teams get a fair shot at getting used to conditions.
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