Strauss will be missed: Matt Prior

Acknowledging the fact that England haven’t won a Test series in India since 1984, wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior felt the visitors have a great chance to create history.

“Every series we start, we play to a win. This series is no different. We haven’t won here for such a long time but we are confident of doing well this time around. Moreover, this team has a good experience of playing in the subcontinent conditions,” said Prior.
After Alec Stewart’s retirement, England have struggled to find a quality wicketkeeper-batsman. Prior seems to fit the ball. He’s one of the most dangerous lower-middle order batsmen around.
Meanwhile, he admitted that England would miss their former skipper Andrew Strauss whose retirement has created a vacuum at the top. England are still to identify someone to reliably partner Alastair Cook. Although they have been trying a few combinations, Nick Compton is being seen as the likely candidate at this point.
“Definitely we are going to miss him (Strauss) as he won a lot of games for us. We will miss him, but then we have to carry on,” said Prior.

England are doing everything in their sway to be absolutely ready for the Tests. In fact, during the warm-up game at the DY Patil Stadium, they didn’t mind the music loud. Prior felt they needed to acclimatise.

“There is lot of enthusiasm among fans here. They go crazy. It’s not a deterrent but we need to get used to that. So, during the Tests it shouldn’t be a distraction,” said Prior.