A couple of days ahead of the India vs England Test series, former England wicket-keeper Matt Prior said winning a series in India is perhaps more difficult than beating Australia in the Ashes.
Prior, who was a member of the England side which won the Test series in India back in 2011-12, said that victory will ‘pip’ the Ashes win in 2010-11.
"It's certainly right up there. The Ashes gets all the publicity and everything that goes with it but India is an equally tough - if not tougher - place to go and win a series. It might even pip it for me: we won in Australia [in 2010-11] for the first time in 25 years but we won in India for the first time in 28," Prior, who scored 258 runs at an average of 51.56 in the four Tests told ESPNCricinfo.
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Prior said wicket-keeping in India is one of the most challenging things as he found out during the 2011-12 series.
{{/usCountry}}Prior said wicket-keeping in India is one of the most challenging things as he found out during the 2011-12 series.
{{/usCountry}}"Playing Test cricket in India is about attrition," he said. "From a wicketkeeping perspective, in the first over of the day, with Jimmy Anderson bowling in the high-80s [mph/140kph], I was standing literally four yards back. It's obviously very hot and very humid, so there's a huge physical drain that you have to be prepared for.
"And then mentally it's very draining. For players who have grown up in England, you're used to the ball swinging and seaming, and leaving on length and in the channel, but your whole gameplan has to change, whether that's for batsmen, bowlers, wicketkeepers, or even fielders, who have to think more about what they're doing with the ball so that they can get it to reverse.
"It's about building pressure and then sustaining it for as long as you can. That's the way to get wickets. Pitches are generally so flat and good to bat on until you get into the third innings when it starts turning. You have to bat for hours and hours and hours to get a lead and that was really what we built our whole campaign around: getting more runs than India in the first innings. Cashing in is key," Prior said.
England are slated to play four Tests followed by five T20Is and three ODIs against India.