Mumbai: The England cricket team led by Alastair Cook arrived here today from Bangladesh to engage hosts India in a five-Test series commencing at Rajkot on November 9. The tourists touched down around 3 pm and reached their hotel in South Mumbai two hours later. This is the sixth five-match Test rubber between the two countries and first in the country since the 1984-85 series between the squads captained by Sunil Gavaskar and David Gower. It was the very series in which Mohammed Azharuddin created world record with a hat-trick of tons in his first 3 Test matches. The tourists are to stay in the metropolis for a few days and have one full practise session, scheduled at the Cricket Club of India's Brabourne Stadium on November 5, before proceeding to Rajkot, venue of the opening clash. The other games are to be played in Vishakapatnam (Nov. 17-21), also hosting a first-ever Test like Rajkot, Mohali (Nov. 26-30), Mumbai (Dec. 8-12) and Chennai (Dec. 16-20). On its previous Test tour of India, England came from behind to turn the tables on the hosts and emerge 2-1 victors in a four-Test series. Cook was the England captain then too.
England squad: Alastair Cook (Captain), Moeen Ali, Zafar Ansari, Johny Bairstow (WK), Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Gareth Batty, Stuart Broad, Jose Buttler, Ben Duckett, Steve Finn, H Hameed, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.
