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Photos: England get cracking in Hyderabad for ODIs

The Alastair Cook-led English team, which arrived in Hyderabad on Tuesday for a five-match one-day series and Twenty20 game against India, got down to business on Wednesday morning with a practice session at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium.

England's young One-day International team is looking to follow up on the 3-0 home win over the World champions. They have a practice match scheduled for Saturday, October 8, but are clueless about who they will be playing.

Nevertheless, Cook said even a depleted India would be quite a handful but warned that his own side will have no problem in adapting to the conditions.But Cook said the dominance in that series counts for little in the five-match series starting October 14.

"I don't read too much into the favourites tag. It is going to be a very different challenge, I don't see any relation between what happened in England and what is going to happen here. India is historically strong at home," he told reporters, a day after his team's arrival for the series.

'Indian bowlers know conditions better'

India are going in without the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma due to injuries sustained on the tour of England.

"They (India) might be inexperienced in international games, but they are experienced in local conditions which is an important thing. Obviously it is going to be a tough challenge," Cook said.

Replying to a query, Cook said pitches in the sub-continent do spin and that his team is expecting slow wickets. "We managed to cope with the weather conditions where we played, I don't think that is a hindrance to us," he said.

The dew factor

On how much a factor dew would be during the series, he said, "It is going to be same for both sides. I am not too sure exactly how much dew will be there at each venue. We will have to cross the bridge when we get there."

Asked about the new ICC rule changes, under which runners have been banned, Cook said he is not too sure about how it will affect the game."The team that adapts quickly to the changes will have an advantage," he said.

Asked about the Decision Review System, Cook said his team "enjoyed the system as it can get more decision right with the help of technology."