England can thrive in India despite late arrival: Duckett

Ben Duckett insists England can thrive in their forthcoming Test series in India despite criticism of the decision to arrive in the country at the last minute. Ben Stokes’s side are currently training in Abu Dhabi and are scheduled to travel to Hyderabad just three days before the first of the five Test series begins on January 25.

Pundits have said that is not enough time to acclimatise to Indian conditions, Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have opted against warm-up matches for much of their reign. And with the series already spanning seven weeks and no guarantees over the quality of the players they would come up against in warm-ups, England batsman Duckett is confident the decision will prove wise.

“There’s training every day and we’re hitting thousands of balls, with the bowlers bowling to us,” he told the Sky Sports Cricket podcast. “There probably is 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 match. “We’ve got quite a big squad with us and there will be hours of training every day. In India you are pretty hotel-bound, the luxury of being in Abu Dhabi is you can get out and about for an extra 10 days.

“India can be a really tough place to tour, everyone knows that. “The mental side of the game is just as important and I don’t think there’s too many complaints from that squad who are having 10 days in Abu Dhabi rather than 10 days stuck in a hotel.”