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India v/s England: Wankhede provides silver lining for struggling English

In 2006, Andrew Flintoff's men defeated the hosts by 212 runs in the final Test to draw the three-match series 1-1, while Cook and his troops inflicted a 10-wicket loss on India four years later in the second Test after losing the first.

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England’s Jos Buttler during practice in Mumbai on Wednesday
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Not many visiting teams can boast of having won two consecutive Test matches at a particular venue in India. England can do that heading into the fourth Test here.

The Wankhede has been a happy hunting ground for the Three Lions, having beaten the hosts in the longer format in their last two visits to the venue. And, they were not mere victories. They were demolitions.

In 2006, Andrew Flintoff's men defeated the hosts by 212 runs in the final Test to draw the three-match series 1-1, while Cook and his troops inflicted a 10-wicket loss on India four years later in the second Test after losing the first.

England also won the famous Golden Jubilee Test on this ground in 1980, and those three wins are the most by any foreign team against India in the 24 Tests played at the Wankhede.

Such numbers and memories should bring some smile on the face of captain Cook, who otherwise hasn't had much of it, staring at a 0-2 deficit in the five-match series.

"It's quite nice coming to a ground where we've got good memories," Cook said here on Wednesday. "It doesn't count for much nowadays apart from the feel-good factor. Unfortunately, not many of the guys who are here now were part of those two Tests that we won. But yes, Mumbai has historically been a good ground for us and a place where we've played well. Hopefully, we can play well again."

The 31-year-old skipper has come to the country this time with a bunch of players who are inexperienced when it comes to playing in the sub-continent. It's showing more in their batting, crumbling against spin in the previous two Tests after showing spirit as well as intent in the first in Rajkot.

It's one of the major reasons why England did well in their previous two tours to India. They had batsmen who were willing to take on the bowlers with their approach, the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff who scored big, scored fast and put Indians under the pump.

England did that in Rajkot but couldn't quite maintain that level thereafter, even prompting India captain Virat Kohli to question their batsmen's intent after the third Test in Mohali.

"It's a very fair assessment," Cook said in reaction to Kohli's statements. "Alongside (England head coach) Trevor (Bayliss) and a couple of other coaches, we sat down at the end of the Mohali game and discussed how we wanted to play, what we felt had happened from our first game, where we scored at 3.50 runs per over in Rajkot and played really well.

"We do have to take that second innings in Vizag (second Test) out of it, where we had to play that way. But I wonder whether there was a bit of a hangover of that in the third game and we went back into our shells. But it was clear after that chat that we want to more aggressively and show more intent," the southpaw added.

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