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Steven Finn
has said that England will head to India in search of a fresh start and
eager to restate their credentials as one of the best Test sides in the
world, after a difficult year in which they lost the No. 1 ranking,
their captain and very nearly their star batsman.
A 2-0 defeat at home to South Africa led to England being deposed as the
top-ranked team in Tests and precipitated Andrew Strauss' retirement
from cricket, leaving Alastair Cook to assume the Test captaincy ahead
of one of the most difficult touring propositions in the game.
England have not won a Test series in India since 1984-85 and struggled
against subcontinental opposition last winter, being whitewashed 3-0 by
Pakistan in the UAE and drawing 1-1 in Sri Lanka. England's victory in Colombo
was only their fifth Test win in Asia, against countries other than
Bangladesh, in 27 years but Finn said Cook's squad have a point to prove
and invoked their landmark Ashes victory of 2010-11 by way of
inspiration.
"It is almost a fresh start for us," Finn said, "the Test team hasn't
played together since August so we've had a bit of time and we've got a
new captain who will have his own ideas how he wants the team to move
forward. There are a few fresh faces in the squad and I think we like
proving people wrong. We like rearing our backs up in the face of
adversity.
"It is something we're excited about, I don't think an England team have
won out there for 27 years so we're looking to do a similar thing to
what we did in Australia, by breaking those sort of records."
The tour is likely to provide Cook with plenty of challenges,
not least brokering a successful return to the England environment for
Kevin Pietersen, after a turbulent summer in which he retired from
limited-overs internationals and was then dropped from the Test side
after admitting sending messages about Strauss to members of the South
Africa squad. The circle will be completed when Pietersen joins up with
England in Dubai over the weekend, after his IPL team, Delhi Daredevils,
were knocked out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage.
England have set much store by team unity in recent years but Finn said
that he was looking forward to playing with Pietersen again. "He is a
world class player and has produced some splendid innings that have won
us games so I think it's great to have him back and good for English
cricket," he said.
England's last win on the subcontinent, against Sri Lanka in April, was
inspired by Pietersen's magnificent innings of 151 and knitting him back
into the fabric of the team would appear to be essential to the
tourists' chances in the four-Test series. While India will be seeking
to avenge the 4-0 whitewashing they suffered in 2011, England also have
plenty at stake.
"We have a massive point to prove," Finn said. "We have to prove to the
general public, to the people who comment on the game and to people
within the game. If we want to be the number one side in the world again
and get that mantle back we have to be able to perform in
subcontinental conditions.
"We have done a lot of work since we played Pakistan earlier this year,
as a unit and as a team, developing skills that we will need in the
subcontinent - playing against spin, using old balls on wickets that
aren't doing much. We have done a lot of work to refine our game to
become better in the subcontinent and hopefully that will bear fruit on
this tour."
Investec, the specialist bank and asset manager, is the title
sponsor of Test match cricket in England. Visit the Investec Cricket
Zone at investec.co.uk/cricket for player analysis, stats, Test match
info and games
Alan Gardner is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Alan Gardner
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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