MCCULLUM: WE ARE STOKED UP FOR INDIA TEST
BRENDON MCCULLUM has vowed England will be bold as they try to inflict India’s first home Test series defeat in more than a decade.
And the England coach says fans are going to see captain Ben Stokes back to something like full fitness even though he will not be used as a bowler.
England’s red-ball team are in action for the first time in almost six months on Thursday, beginning a five-match tour in Hyderabad.
India at home have lost only three matches out of 46 since they were last beaten in a series, by Alastair Cook’s England in 2012.
But Mccullum sees that as a challenge and is plotting a surprise. Crucially, on a pitch that is expected to offer plenty of turn, England must decide how to use their spinners from a unit featuring the established Jack Leach and rookies Rehan
Ahmed, Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir.
“What balance we go for in terms of the side we’ll work out in the coming days, but the thing we need to be is really brave with whatever we decide,” Mccullum said. “Other teams might be better, but we want to be the bravest.”
Stokes is set to lead the side, with England content over his rehabilitation from knee surgery.
The captain left a private clinic on crutches at the end of November, setting up a race against time to be fit.
Mccullum said: “He looks like a greyhound. He’s stripping fit. He’s put the hard work in and everyone knows his work ethic is phenomenal.
“I’ve seen him running around and I think he’s good to go.”
England know they will face criticism for being underprepared if things go badly in the opening game, but Mccullum made no apologies for his decision to host a training camp in Abu Dhabi rather than warm-up games on Indian soil.
“The preparation was brilliant. The facilities out there are as good as anywhere in the world,” he said.
Phil Salt has been named in the International Cricket Council’s T20 team of the year, the only England representative in the XI.