Ben Stokes has responded to former England fast bowler Steve Harmison‘s comments regarding England’s lack of practice ahead of the upcoming India Test tour in January 2024.

England are scheduled to tour India for a five-Test series which starts on January 25 in Hyderabad. Having draw the home Ashes series 2-2, this upcoming tour will be important for their World Test Championship prospects. Currently, England are languishing at seventh on the points table of the 2023-2025 WTC.

However, England are reportedly only scheduled to reach India a few days before the start of the series, potentially hurting their chances of getting acclimatised to the conditions in the subcontinent.

Harmison, speaking on the TalkSport Cricket podcast, raised this issue, saying that England deserved to lose the series if they reached India just three days before the series and go in under-prepared.

“If England go in three days before, they deserve to get beat 5-0, they really do,” Harmison said. “I’m an old man. And that’s what they’re going to say: ‘Times have changed, the game has changed.’ But I tell you what, preparation hasn’t changed.

“You can not go into India underprepared. [In fact], you can not go into India overprepared. You could be in India six weeks before and still not be prepared for that first Test and the emotion of that.

“To be honest, I love this new approach. I love Ben Stokes, the Brendon McCullum approach, obviously Rob Key, and everything that they have done, ECB have done. But I’m sorry, going in three days before [the India series]. You would never do that for an Ashes Test series.”

Stokes responded to Harmison’s comments on X (Twitter), detailing how England will head over to the UAE for a camp ahead of the India series and that they won’t go in unprepared.

“Good job we’re going to Abu Dhabi for a training camp before we go to India for even more training before that 1st test then isn’t it,” Stokes wrote on social media.

Good job we’re going to Abu Dhabi for a training camp before we go to India for even more training before that 1st test then isn’t it. https://t.co/2Q0qCOEbFO

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) December 28, 2023

England have announced their squad for the India Test series, naming two young, uncapped spinners in a four-man spin-attack. No warm-up games are scheduled as of now ahead of the Test series, however.

The last time England came to India on a Test tour, they lost the series 1-3 after winning the first Test in Chennai. The last time they won a Test series in India was in 2012 when they came from 0-1 behind to take the series 2-1.

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