Former skipper lashes out at England's preparation for 5-match Test series against India

England will be touring India for a 5-match Test series. The three Lions have played a brilliant brand of cricket in the longest format of the game. After they appointed Brendon McCullum as their head coach they started playing aggressive cricket in the traditional format as well. Though it has backfired somewhat, they have continued to back the ‘Bazball’ game. But in sub-continent conditions, they might get clean swept. 

Previously Ben Stokes’s side was lashed on by former pacer Steve Harmison lashed out at England's preparation strategy for the upcoming Test in India. He has toured India in the past to play three Tests, is far not pleased with England's plan for the series and believes that there will be a whitewash that is pending in the series.

Now, former skipper Mark Butcher has questioned the side's lack of preparation for the upcoming five-match Test series in India. It will get underway in Hyderabad on January 25. Except for an 11-day training in Dubai, the side is not playing a warm-up game in India. They will arrive in Hyderabad only three days before the opening Test. 

Everybody believes going to India that you’re unlikely to win: Mark Butcher

Speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast, Butcher feels losing the Test series, "Everybody believes going to India that you’re unlikely to win a five-Test match series in India right? But what people will be less likely to be gentle about is if you go there without having done the requisite getting ready for it and then get battered. That’s kind of inexcusable. Particularly given the huge gap that there has been for the Test team between July and now whereby there’s no real reason why they couldn’t have spent three weeks in India leading up to the series.”

"Frankly I’d be a little bit terrified if I was playing. Most of the guys haven’t played any long form cricket since July. Very few of the squad were involved a great deal in the rundown of the County Championship which finished at the back end of September. We’re now three months down the road with nobody having had any sort of middle practice at all."