Is the Ashes more important to England than the India Tests?

There's every reason England are sweating over the fitness levels of their ace players Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes, and much of this has to do with the Ashes in Australia.

The quick was ruled out due to a chronic elbow issue and the all-rounder fractured his left index finger during the IPL earlier this year. There's no doubt that both these players are vital cogs in the English setup and the absence of one of them gives Australia the upper hand.

England coach Chris Silverwood minced no words when he said he planned to build a squad that is "fitter, faster, leaner, more ready than ever before" for this summer's Ashes.

"We want to travel to Australia fitter, faster, leaner, more ready than ever before. And (so) they get off the plane and it is 'right, we're here, we mean business and we're full of confidence' and that will take us through.

"We have the greatest respect for our opposition (this English summer). To get to where we want to be against Australia, we have to perform well in these Tests," Silverwood said.

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Ashes vs the India tour: Which one's more important?

To say England don't care much about the India Tests would be a dangerous remark to make. If everything goes India's way, they will be World Test Champions and England will be keen to prove their mettle against a quality Virat Kohli-led side.

Quite simply, the five Tests against India will be the stern Test Silverwood's men will have to pass if they want to have a fighting chance against Australia to get the urn back in their trophy cabinet.

There are rivalries in cricket that do more than just entertain. The Ashes is one such humdinger that has given the world a chance to witness greatness, one of them being Ben Stokes' magical 2019 that saw him take England to victory in the third Test. Pundits hailed his belligerent 135* as one of the greatest knocks in Ashes history.

What the series against India and New Zealand does is give them a chance to head to Australia as the champion beaters. The Ashes may be in December, but it would give Joe Root & Co to prep for a formidable Aussie side that finds a new switch whenever they play against England.

To boil it down to one final answer, England have made their intentions very clear: It's the Ashes or bust. Only time will tell if they can vault the India barrier and regain what they feel is truly theirs.