Burns eyes Rory return
England opener joins team after paternity break
When England’s Test cricketers were preparing for their subcontinental tour by training on worn surfaces at ECB’s high performance centre in Loughborough, opener Rory Burns had other thoughts. Burns, who had spoken candidly about the effect of the bio-bubble environment in the summer, knew his most important preparation would be for the mental side of the game.
Burns, who has returned to the England Test squad after skipping the Sri Lanka tour for the birth of his first child, admitted that it was tough leaving his newborn daughter and wife back at home. “But, I’m ready to get back to work,” said Burns who has scored 1,233 runs in 21 Tests.
The 30-year-old Epsomborn is also taking a short course in Psychology to fill the long hours in the bio-bubble.
“It’s going to take quite a bit of my off-time. If I maintain a healthy headspace, I can focus well on my cricket. The break (paternity) helped me freshen up.
“The time that my child was giving me, I saw more of the India-Australia series than our series against Sri Lanka. Because I was getting up and doing my own training back home,” he said.
On his maiden India tour, Burns is hoping to train with his teammates Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes for the first time in Chennai on Sunday. The rest of the squad who arrived on Wednesday from Colombo will commence their training only on Tuesday.
“It is obviously a challenge, we can’t do much about the schedule. If you waste time thinking about that, it won’t be any good to you. We have three days to put in the work and try to get used to the conditions here. Then it’s a mental switch. I guess that’s the challenge and I have been around for a while now so I have some experience to draw from,” said Burns.
The Surrey cricketer, however, doesn’t expect the wickets in India to turn straight away.
“I think we will get good cricket wickets that will spin as the game goes on. I have drawn on various people’s experience who I have worked with, they tend to suggest about India as opposed to Sri
Lanka which is slightly fast forward from the start with regards to spin. We are preparing in that respect,” he said.
Burns said India’s Jasprit Bumrah is a hard bowler to prepare for.
“He is obviously unique in terms of how he comes and bowls. It would just be about working those angles. I saw the recent series between India and Australia and they are in a pretty handy form, not necessarily their first playing XI at different points, but still, they managed to get over the line, it is just going to be a big challenge in their own conditions, looking forward to it,” added Burns.
India would be fielding their full-strength side with Virat Kohli back to bolster the batting lineup. Burns knows India are in pretty handy form. “India could not necessarily play their first eleven, but they still managed to get past Australia, which is testament to the side. They will be a big challenge in their conditions and they are No. 1 in the world,” added the 30years-old.