‘We’re going to Abu Dhabi for training camp’, says Stokes over Harmison’s criticism on India tour preparation

London: England Test captain Ben Stokes has hit back at former fast-bowler Steve Harmison’s criticism over England’s preparation for the upcoming five-match Test series in India starting next month.

Stokes has been in rehab after undergoing a knee surgery at the end of November in London and is aiming to be fit in time for the series opener against India starting from January 25 in Hyderabad.

England will be having a training camp in Abu Dhabi before arriving in Hyderabad three days ahead of the series opener, something which let Harmison irritated. “If England go in just three days before, they just have to get beat 5-0, they really do. I’m an old man and that’s what they’re going to say, times have changed, the game has changed.”

“But I’ll tell you what, preparation hasn’t changed. You cannot go into India underprepared, you cannot go into India overprepared, you could be there for six weeks and still go into that first Test and the emotion and cauldron that goes in,” he said to TalkSport radio.

After the match in Hyderabad, India and England will play subsequent Test matches in Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamshala. An England Lions squad will also be playing matches against India ‘A’ team at Ahmedabad in January.

The series in India is billed to be the biggest challenge for Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, especially in terms of their ultra-attacking style of play and continuing with it in spin-friendly sub-continental conditions. England had won the series opener in Chennai in 2021, but lost the series 3-1.

“But going three days before, I’d love to know – you talk about (Kevin) Pietersen and (Sir Alastair) Cook, the only side that’s won there in 2012, what they would think if you were going in three days before, I think they’d have laughed at you.”

“To be honest, I love this new approach, I love the Ben Stokes, the Brendon McCullum approach, Rob Key and everything the ECB have done, but I’m sorry, going to India three days before, you would never do that for an Ashes series.”

“You would never go to Australia three days before the Gabba, so why are you going three days before Hyderabad. It’s player power, that’s all it is,” added Harmison.

In a sarcastic post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Stokes said, “Good job we’re going to Abu Dhabi for a training camp before we go to India for even more training before the 1st Test then isn’t it.”

Uncapped spinners Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley, along with pacer Gus Atkinson, have been named in England’s 16-member Test squad. Teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed returns to the Test squad after claiming a five-wicket haul on his debut in Pakistan last year.

He will be amongst the front-line spin options alongside Bashir, Hartley and Jack Leach. England’s fast-bowling department includes Atkinson, James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, and Mark Wood, with Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes as wicketkeeper-batters.

England Test squad: Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root and Mark Wood

–IANS