Team India arrived here from Glasgow to commence the testing tour of England that starts with a warm-up match against Sussex at Hove from July 7.
LONDON: Buoyed by their Future Cup series victory against the formidable South Africans, the Indian cricket team arrived here from Glasgow to commence the testing tour of England that starts with a warm-up match against Sussex at Hove from July 7.
The team has been joined by senior players Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman and opener Wasim Jaffer, all of whom arrived here on Tuesday. Ishant Sharma and Ranadeb Bose, the pace bowlers picked for the Test series, are already with the squad.
India recorded their first-ever one-day series triumph against the Proteas in the three-match series in Belfast. Their one-off tie against Pakistan in Glasgow for the Friendship Cup, however, was washed out without a ball being bowled.
Thanks to heavy rain and biting cold, the Indian experienced some extremely difficult conditions in Belfast which will come in handy during their tough tour of England.
"Our Belfast experience will help because you won't get conditions worse than that. It was absolutely freezing and the conditions were tough. I've never encountered anything like this in my entire career. This is something we are not used to, and experiencing that just before the series against England is wonderful," remarked Sachin Tendulkar who completed his 15,000 one-day runs in the Future Cup series.
With big guns, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh, pulling their weight in the side and guiding the youngsters with their experience, India did not feel the absence of a coach.
In fact, the Indian captain lauded the seniors in the side for taking responsibility and doing a good job.
"The senior players are the leaders in the team. Irrespective of whether you have a coach or not, the junior guys always look up to them and they are the ones who set the tempo in the team. It's not just the captain but also four or five senior players who got to set example for others to follow," said Dravid, putting things in perspective.
Coming as it did after an eminently forgettable World Cup campaign, Dravid duly stressed what the Future Cup triumph meant to his side.
"It meant a lot for the team. We had a few disappointments lately, so it was nice to win this. It was a good competition to win away from home. I was just happy for the boys. They have been through a lot. They put in a lot of hard work so just for them to taste victory and enjoy success is good for them."
The Indians will be playing Sussex in the tour opener from July 7-10 at Hove before moving on to Chelmsford to take on the England Lions in the second warm-up game from July 13-15.
The first Test of the three-match series gets underway at Lord's from July 19.
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