Ahead of England’s third Test against India, starting Wednesday, England all-rounder Ben Stokes brushed aside the incessant talk around spin-friendly pitches in India and said that Test players should be proficient in handling all kinds of conditions, PTI reported. 

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“The thing about being a Test batsman is that you need to be able to handle all types of conditions. India is one of the places where it is a lot tougher for overseas batsmen to come and be successful, but then so too is England,” Stokes wrote in a column for the ‘Daily Mirror’.

“And that is part of the game, the challenges and why we love it,” he added.

Although Stokes wondered how the newly-refurbished Motera strip would behave, he stressed that top-flight cricketers should be able to deal with whatever they are faced with.

The turning tracks in India became a talking point during the ongoing series when some former England players such as Michael Vaughan asked whether such strips were ideal for Test cricket.

The England all-rounder wrote that nobody has the slightest clue how the track would behave.

“Generally around the world whenever these pink ball games are played there is always a period when the ball starts doing a bit under lights and it brings the seamers right into the game,” Stokes wrote in the column.

“For us out here that will be massive. And at a brand new ground that looks pretty impressive no-one will know just how it will react,” he wrote.

“We’ve got a good spin department, but hopefully with conditions that suit, we’ve certainly got a seam department to back them up strongly,” Stokes said

“There aren’t too many teams who come away from India with a series win,” he added while lauding England’s 2012 Test triumph against India on the latter’s home turf.

The four-match series is tied at 1-1 after India’s brilliant 317-run triumph in the second Test in Chennai. The series is especially crucial as the spot at the World Test Championships final is up for the grabs.

India needs to win one and draw the other game, while England needs to win both.

New Zealand has already qualified for the final. 

The outcome of the first two Tests largely depended on which team batted first. It was England in the first Test and India in the second.

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The third Test between India and England will be played from Wednesday in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.