Former England head coach Andy Flower has admitted he would be surprised if England manage to beat India in India in the upcoming five-match Test series. Despite Virat Kohli pulling out due to personal reasons, India will start as favorites against England in favorable spin conditions.

India has a potent spin battery as they have experienced spinners, such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel. India had bested England by 3-1 in 2021, with Ashwin and Patel doing the bulk of the damage. While Ashwin had scalped 32 wickets in four Test matches, Patel had snared 27 wickets.

India has a fabulous record while playing in their conditions and have won their last 16 consecutive home Test series. Team India last lost a Test series at home against England in 2012 by 2-1.

“I am not doing prediction, but I would be surprised if England beat India in India. They are an outstanding and confident side in their own conditions, very well coached by Rahul Dravid. India has an outstanding attack. We talk a lot about their spinners, but their seamers are outstanding too and we must not underplay the danger they hold,” said Flower while speaking to Hindustan Times.

Meanwhile, Flower admitted that England’s success with Bazball has surprised him. England has won 13 out of the 19 Test matches with the Bazball approach and has taken Test cricket by storm.

“It has surprised me. It’s been great to watch. Even when I was involved with Australia during the last Ashes, I felt it was really interesting cricket. There’s a lot happening quite quickly. It’s going to be fascinating to watch the very interesting tussle between India’s class bowlers – both spinners and seamers, and the English batting line-up that is going to attack. I’m looking forward to it,” Flower added.

The first Test match between India and England will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad from 25 January onwards.