Wright understands India importance

Luke Wright hits out on his way to a fifty against the Black Caps at Edgbaston

Clashing with India in an England jersey represents one of Luke Wright’s main ambitions when he came into international cricket.

England embarked on a 48-hour journey from the West Indies to India to begin their preparations for the seven-match one-day international series.

They were met with a plethora of television cameras and interested fans, reminding everyone in the party of the massive interest in the tour.

Despite India currently playing Australia in the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Series in Nagpur, it did not distract from the huge interest and expectations for the coming series.

"It's the first time I've been here with England and every time you see cricket out here you see the big crowds,” said Wright.

"It's one of those places where you're desperate to come and try and achieve. If you do that you tick one of the big boxes of cricket's hardest challenges.

"My first ambition was to play against anyone for England in England and then you start thinking about trying to play in an Ashes series and in India."

Wright believes his excitement is reflected in his team-mates.

"Talking to the lads everyone was keen to come out here, especially after the second half to the summer we had," added Wright.

Wright and his team-mates believe England's progress is tangible since 2006 defeat in India

"It's a good chance to come out here and test ourselves somewhere where it's really hard to play.

"When we arrived at the airport today there were plenty of cameras and plenty of people out to see us so it just shows how exciting it is to come out here and play.”

Ahead of the Stanford Super Series, England's confidence was sky high following their emphatic 4-0 home series triumph over South Africa.

But memories of their one-day series hammering in India just two years ago are still fresh and although the personnel may have changed since then - only seven members of the current squad were on that tour - the challenge remains equally difficult.

"People have mentioned what a hard tour that was but they've also said what a different place we're in as a team this time compared to last time," added Wright.

"Towards the back end of the summer everyone got a lot more confident.

"You've got to play different cricket at times out here and they're obviously more of a confident unit here than they are away.

"But you can use reverse swing and the spinners better and you have to use the new ball because it can become hard work in the middle overs against the spinners."