Duncan Fletcher says unpredictability will be inexperienced India's strength

Duncan Fletcher with skipper MS Dhoni ahead of the 3-day practice match

India’s coach Duncan Fletcher has said that the inexperience in the squad will motivate the players to shine in the five-Test series against England, which begins on July 9 at Nottingham. He also mentioned that unpredictability will be India’s strength during the five-Test series.

"Without making excuses it is a very, very inexperienced side: If you look at how many Tests our opening batters have played, how many Tests our No. 3 has played, how many Tests our bowlers have played," Fletcher said the day before the first tour match, a three-day game against Leicestershire.

"But it is nice sometimes, because being unpredictable they will play some exciting cricket. There are some very, very exciting cricketers in this group who would go on to be very, very good cricketers for India. They might fire from this series and there will be some very, very good cricket played."

India and England have been under the lens since 2011 when England thrashed India 4-0. From there on, India suffered a crushing 0-4 defeat in Australia, and were also winless in South Africa and New Zealand. England, on the other hand, defeated India in India 2-1 in three-Test series. England then won the Ashes 3-0 at home. From there on, England suffered 0-5 defeat in Australia, and also lost the home series to Sri Lanka 0-1.

Yesterday, India’s coach Fletcher said that India will focus on winning than thinking of the past result. However, both Dhoni and Fletcher felt that it will be a tough competition for them in England despite England’s recent poor run. "What you assess is how good a side the opposition is, and I still think England are a fantastic side, which means it will be a tough competition for us. They know the home conditions better than us. It's a long series, five Test matches followed by five ODIs and one T20. Playing a series with five Test matches is something that's entirely new for us. But overall I think it will be really good."

In 2011, India had just the one tour match before the Test series. However, this time they will play two tour matches before the first Test at Trent Bridge which gives the inexperience players to get used to the conditions. "It's always good to have players who have played in the scenario before but as I've said it's a team that doesn't have too many players in it that have played in England," Dhoni said.

"The good thing is a lot of them have played some kind of cricket in England. There are quite a few who were part of the Champions Trophy. There are quite a few who have played in England in other leagues, not just the counties, under-age cricket, maybe the Under-19s. All that really helps but it will be important for those players who have not played too many games to get used to the conditions really quickly. We're here 15 to 20 days before the first Test so that will obviously help."