I think any team that comes to India, it’s always a tough challenge, says England captain Ben Stokes

The death of Australian Phil Hughes on the field altered Brendon McCullum's career in numerous ways.

During his MCC Spirit of Cricket talk in June 2016, the former captain of New Zealand shared some thoughts on how Hughes' tragic injury motivated him to play the game fearlessly and without restraint about the potential consequences of failure.

In line with his newfound perspective, two years after Hughes's passing, McCullum had achieved the quickest century in Test cricket against Australia in 2016 (off 54 balls). McCullum had said during the lecture, "It was so strange, and yet it felt so right, that after Phil's death we didn't really care anymore about the result."

As head coach of the England Test team, he introduced this ideology, which eventually led to the squad being called Bazball. Although the team has achieved a winning % of over 72 in less than two years thanks to their new, aggressive style of cricket, the effectiveness of this approach will be determined by how they perform in the five-Test series, which gets underway at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday.

The hosts' unbeatable record reflects the fact that success in India has never come easily. No team has been able to win a series at this location since Alastair Cook's squad broke through the stronghold in 2012–13. Douglas Jardine, Tony Greig, David Gower, and Cook are the only four England captains to have won a Test series in India. Will Ben Stokes be able to join the exclusive group?

"I believe that visiting India is always a difficult task for any team. Together, we also value it. However, it offers us a chance. This group is all about opportunity. We kind of seize every chance and sprint in its direction. As the series was about to begin, Stokes said, "We don't back away from anything."

How, however, will they meet the challenge of the turners on spinners? It may be suicidal to go on the defensive while facing Ravindra Jadeja or Ravichandran Ashwin.

Given the McCullum-Stokes era's characteristic offensive inclinations, England could choose to counterattack in order to escape difficulty. A trick like this doesn't usually work, and they should still be thinking about Ahmedabad and Chennai in 2021.

During the most recent Test series in India, the Australians did do it, albeit with mixed results. Travis Head's 49 off 53 balls gave them the lone victory in Indore against a 78-run target. Rohit Sharma is well aware that these kind of performances may often make a difference in games with low score. For this reason, he is exercising caution.

"We are not guaranteed to win the series or to come out on top here, no matter what record we have over the last ten or so years," Rohit said on Wednesday. "We still need to play the best cricket we can, the best cricket we know how to play under these circumstances...

"I wouldn't argue that we are unbeatable. Indeed, we are. We would want to believe that we will get into problems if we don't act or if you don't show up.

Bazball was kept under wraps by one Nathan Lyon until his injury during the most recent Ashes match, which should give Rohit some optimism.

However, England has already made a snap decision in response to the circumstances, adding three spinners and just one fast bowler to its starting XI (the injury-prone Mark Wood). For the first time in over sixty years, England will field a single specialist pacer in a Test match.

The incisive and crisp bowling of England's spinners, Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann, was a contributing factor in their victory in the 2012–13 season. England will not have a chance in the series until their most experienced spinner, Jack Leach, together with rookie left-arm orthodox Tom Hartley and one-Test old leggie Rehan Ahmed, plus part-timer Joe Root, manage to make an impact.