Chennai, Feb 4 (UNI) England captain Joe Root on Thursday said that his team is confident of doing well in four match Test series starting tomorrow, adding that the more pressure is on the home team to win the series as they begin as favourites.
India have not lost a home series since England won in 2012 and will be high on morale after its 2-1 series win against Australia recently. On the other hand, England have a poor recent record in India.
Addressing the pre-match press-conference in Chennai, Root acknowledged the same and claimed that all pressure will be on India to win the series in their home conditions.
"It's going to be an amazing series to be part of. To get the opportunity to play India off the back of them beating Australia in Australia - what a scalp that would be for us. There will be more pressure on them than us - they have an expectation to uphold that record they have in their conditions,” Root was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
"We're quietly confident. We're playing some good cricket, we're improving all the time, implementing the game plan we constantly talk about more consistently. I think it's going to make for a fascinating watch. I'm really excited about it. It will be great for Virat to be back out there as well and for cricket fans in general - we want to play against the best and you want to beat the best. It's an opportunity for us to do that. It's going to be great fun and I'm really looking forward to it,' he added.
England are definitely not downplaying the strength of this Indian line-up or the difficulties the conditions will present to them. However, Root spoke about the opportunity before of his team and said that he is "very excited" about the challenge.
"It's a big one, we're all aware of that because it's a very difficult place to come and win, but that doesn't scare us and it shouldn’t. We should embrace that challenge and take a lot of confidence from the improvement we've made, keep striving to get better and do something special this time around," he said.
The stylish batsman also said that beating India in India would be one of the biggest achievements of his career as Test captain.
"I think it would be (the best achievement as captain). When I came into the team in 2012 I played a very small part in that amazing series. That 2012 tour was very special and I don't think at the time I appreciated how hard it is to win in these conditions,' Root said.
'Having toured since I have a better understanding of it and of course it would be a huge achievement for this group of players. But it's one we certainly have the tools to go and do and the players to win these four games. I'm really excited about it. It should be really good fun,' he added.
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