He was among the key plotters of England’s historic 2012 Test triumph in India and former coach Andy Flower sees no reason why an encore is not possible this year as he believes the visitors have enough “formidable players” to challenge the upbeat hosts.

Flower, a former Zimbabwe captain and one of England’s most successful coaches in recent history, didn’t want to get into predictions but cited India’s remarkable Test conquest of Australia to assert the point that visitors are no longer underdogs in the longest format.