Chris Tremlett: India tours pose unique challenges, even more so at this time
An India tour can feel very alien for a cricketer, as England’s players there for a Test series that begins on Friday will know.
It is a completely different culture to other places you visit, like Australia, South Africa and the Caribbean, and poses unique challenges.
Cricketers are like gods to Indians, so when you walk into a hotel people look at you like you’re a film star.
But that means there is also more security than you are used to, and you can’t simply go out for a walk in the street.
Players are very confined to their hotels and hotel rooms – and even more so now for reasons related to Covid-19.
In the subcontinent you can spend a lot of time on your own and you have to come to terms with that.
It’s important to keep busy, so management will usually set up a team room with games and table tennis.
This can help the squad bond and keep morale up. As we have seen in the past, on tours to India players can struggle mentally.
It can be a culture shock. I think back to getting a tuk-tuk rather than a taxi to a restaurant, which seems surreal now.
Food-wise, there isn’t much variation from chicken, rice and beans at the cricket grounds.
At hotels there is more choice, but that comes with its own pitfalls. You generally get ill once or twice on the trip; you just have to manage it.
Coming home from India always made me appreciate how lucky we are in England, though.
We don’t get treated like film stars but I’m very grateful for everything we have here.
England should stick to their strengths
On the playing side, of course it is usually pretty hot – the forecast for the first Test in Chennai is 29C.
For a fast bowler like me, there is generally a little bit more in the pitches than in Sri Lanka, especially with the new ball for the first 10-20 overs.
India are strong favourites and will look to set up wickets to suit their spinners, because they know that’s where England are weaker.
England will have to mix up the bowling to an extent but I think their best chance is to stick to their strengths.
Use Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad with the new ball; that’s when they’re best.
Over the years we have gone there with the same mindset of bowling line and length and it hasn’t always worked.
Anderson and Broad showed in Sri Lanka last month that they’re not too old to try new things, though.
That’s to their great credit, and it may be that bowling a bit more like the home side is the way to go.
Jofra Archer is back in contention after a rest and he is a great weapon for England in India.
If they bowl him in shorter spells and not into the ground hopefully Archer can replicate the form he showed in the IPL last year.
India tour a chance for Moeen to return
England’s spinners did well enough in Sri Lanka but they will really need to be on song in the second innings in India.
I think this tour is a great chance for Moeen Ali to make his mark on the side again, after missing the Sri Lanka series with Covid-19.
Moeen hasn’t played a Test match since 2019 but I think he’s still got a lot to offer. He’s as good as Dom Bess with the ball, plus he can bat.
People don’t give Moeen enough credit for how much he has had to learn his spin-bowling craft while playing.
At times, he lacks consistency probably because spin bowling wasn’t always his main skill; that was batting.
So when it isn’t going well it’s tough on him. But we’ve seen him bounce back before and I’m sure he can again.
Make no bones about it, this series is going to be tough for England.
They will need to do something special to upset the odds, but they have done it before, in 2012-13, so it is possible.
Joe Root is in good form and if he and England’s other key players can take it to the Indians like Kevin Pietersen did on that tour, who knows?
It’s important that England find a method that works for this series, and preferably sooner rather than later.
Otherwise this tour, with its particular challenges magnified by the pandemic, could get quite depressing.