England Head To Ahmedabad For Four-Test India Series

It might not be good weather for cricket in the UK, but England will be hoping for good conditions during their upcoming four-test series against India.

The team head to Ahmedabad on November 15th for the first test in the series, and have some reparations to make following embarrassment earlier in the year against Pakistan.

Saeed Ajmal proved too much for England to handle when they met Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in early 2012 – and they crashed to a 3-0 defeat in the series.

This time around, Ravichandran Ashwin will be hoping to take some major scalps from the English batting order, on behalf of India.

His team-mate, India’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, says Ashwin and left-handed slow-bowler Pragyan Ojha could upset England’s chances – particularly as the English are away from home.

“Whichever country you are from, 60 to 70 per cent of your cricket will be played at home,” he explains.

But that leaves 30 to 40 per cent to be played in unfamiliar territory, where the expectation of a good result might be substantially lower – and that brings a fresh challenge along with it.

The time of year could play its own tricks on England, who will have had little chance to practise on a dry home pitch in the build-up to this series.
In India, however, prevailing conditions are quite different, and the already-dry pitch at the Sardar Patel Stadium is expected to turn as the game progresses.

England, led by Alastair Cook, have named their 17-man squad for the series, including the addition of Kevin Pietersen to the line-up on October 18th.

Fan favourites like Stuart Broad, Ian Bell and Monty Panesar are also among the line-up hoping to put in a better performance in India than they managed in the UAE.