England will come out with same mindset against India: Stokes after routing NZ

Leeds: Relentless in their 3-0 sweep of New Zealand, England captain Ben Stokes said there will be no let-up in intensity against India in the upcoming rescheduled fifth Test. Under the leadership of Stokes and new coach Brendon McCullum, England recorded a phenomenal 3-0 win in the Test series against reigning WTC champions New Zealand, capping it off with a sevenwicket victory in the third and final match at Headingley.

The one-off Test against India, a part of last year’s five-match series, which was abandoned due to a COVID-19 outbreak, will begin at Edgbaston on Friday.

“Trust me when I say this. We’ll be coming out with exactly the same (aggressive) mindset, even though it’s a different opposition,” Stokes said on Monday.

“Obviously, it’s going to be a completely different... different opposition, with their attack and players as well.

“We’ll be concentrating on what we’ve done well over these last three games and look to continue that against India on Friday.” The visitors are leading the five-match series 2-1 but will face a revitalised England, which comprise only four members -- Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Bairstow and James Anderson -- from last year’s fourth Test against the Indians.

Stokes himself was not available for the series last year as he had taken a break to focus on his mental health. England endured a tough time in the last few months, winning just once in 17 Tests before the New Zealand series.

Praising his teammates for turning things around, Stokes said: “To walk away with a 3-0 series win over the best team in the world is a pretty special start.”

“I’ve got to show a huge amount of testament to the team over these three games. They’ve been absolutely phenomenal.” Stokes took over the captaincy after Root relinquished the position following England’s 0-1 series defeat to the West Indies in April.

“When I took over this job, it was more than results for me. It was about changing the mindset of the lads towards Test cricket, about having fun, and enjoying the fact that you’re out there representing your country, and the results look after itself. “

But to say that we’ve done it so quickly is just unbelievable. I can only do so much, so I’ve got to show a huge amount of credit to Brendon, in the way that he’s come in and influenced this group.”

England favourites against India, predicts Swann

England will be playing India on the back of the three-Test series against New Zealand and former off-spinner Graeme Swann believes it would make the hosts slight favourites going into the rescheduled fifth Test starting in Birmingham on Friday.

England on Monday completed a 3-0 series whitewash against New Zealand after wining the third and final Test by seven wickets. “England are in a very good position and I would say they are slight favourites because of that series (against New Zealand),” Swann said in a virtual interaction, facilitated by Sony Sports, official broadcasters of India-England series.

“And the fact that India just had one (warm-up) game in England, so they are coming in cold (for) the Test match, which is a bit of disadvantage. They (England) have got the three Test matches under their belt, so that makes them pre-game favourites.” Swann hailed the aggressive brand of cricket played by England under new captain Ben Stokes and new head coach Brandon McCullum and said this was a “bad time” to face England.

We’ve ticked all boxes: Dravid satisfied with India’s preparation

India ticked all the required boxes during the four-day practice match against Leicestershire and will look to hit the ground running when they face England in the rescheduled oneoff Test beginning Friday, said head coach Rahul Dravid. Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja -- all struck fifties during the drawn warm-up game.

“I think whatever we needed to achieve and whatever boxes we needed to tick in terms of our preparation leading into the Test match on Friday, I think we are very satisfied and happy, we have been able to do that this week,” Dravid said in a video posted by Leicestershire Foxes on Twitter.

Asked about the challenges of playing in English conditions, Dravid said: “When you have got just one game or oneoff game in a series, its not really a lot of time, you’ve got to hit the ground running hard and you’ve got to be able to hopefully get your act together right from the first day of the Test match. “There is not lot of room to maneuver or things to go wrong. So having said that it has been a good week. I thought the match wick