India tour one of the toughest: Vaughan

"If you look at tours around the world, I think Australia and India are the two toughest you can go on," he said.

Heat, craze and their splendid home record make an India tour perhaps the toughest of them all and according to England skipper Michael Vaughan, his team would be tested to the hilt as they leave for a full series against Rahul Dravid's men.

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"I think it's one of the toughest tours around. If you look at tours around the world, I think Australia and India are the two toughest you can go on," he said.

"With the conditions you get in India and the heat and their record on their home soil, you could even argue it's the hardest of them all."

Describing India as a fascinating place, the England skipper said the fans make the whole experience of touring the country unbelievble.

"In India they love you all the time no matter what you're doing because they just love the game of cricket," he said.

"Everywhere you go there is fanatical support and the way you get received in India as cricketers is unbelievable."

Vaughan said he was quite surprised at the cricket knowledge of fans in India the last time he went there.

"They know everything about you over there. They know everything about the way you get runs, your bowling average, your batting average, how many catches you've dropped and everything else," the English skipper said.

"We've got a new bowler in Monty Panesar on the trip and they'll know everything about him. They'll know last time he got a five-for, who he got out - they will know everything about everyone and that's what makes it such a great tour."

The skipper, who is looking forward to a warm reception in the cricket-crazy country, believes that a good performance on the tour would give them confidence to play in any conditions.

"It's a different place and a totally different atmosphere to anywhere else, but if you can put in some good performances there, I think you can do it anywhere in the world," he said.

"It's going to be great because if we come through this tour having done well, it certainly sets us up to be able to go and play anywhere because it's one of the most difficult tours of all," he added.

Vaughan said his inexperienced side could learn a lot from the series after the loss in Pakistan.

"I think this is the biggest test of them all. We've just lost in Pakistan and India, as I'm sure everyone would agree, is probably a harder place to go and win," Vaughan said.

"It's going to be a great learning experience for a lot of the players because they are so young. I certainly learned a lot from the last time I was there and developed as a player," he added.

The England team will leave for India later today and will play three Tests and seven one-dayers in the two-month-long tour.

"It's a great, great tour and I'm really looking forward to it," Vaughan said.