Ben Stokes will need to inspire Test side to even greater heights if they are to emulate Alistair Cook’s heroes from 2012
And so begins the great zigzag via Vizag, with England due to land in bustling Hyderabad on Sunday for a five-Test series against India that begins on Thursday; the start of an eight-week tour during which they fly back and forth across the country before ending up in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The first-timers will almost certainly coo at the snow-capped peaks when they reach Dharamsala for the series finale in mid-March, with the size of the task between now and then pretty much on a par. It has been 11 years and one month since India last felt the pain of a Test series defeat on home soil – a memorable 2-1 triumph by Alastair Cook’s side in late 2012 – and no side has even held them to a draw along the way.