BEN COAD believes an England Test series victory in India would be a bigger achievement than winning the Ashes in Australia.

The Yorkshire seamer accepts that any Englishman would likely prefer an Ashes triumph down under if they were forced to choose given the rivalry.

But, says Coad, the conditions on offer in India, plus the quality of opposition, make this assignment a tougher one for Joe Root and company.

“India is definitely the toughest tour,” said the White Rose new-ball quick. “I think you’d choose a win over Australia in Australia rather than India away as an Englishman.

“But the technical challenge you face in India, you know you’re going to be in for a hard graft, especially as a seamer with the ball.

“With the bat, you’re going to be tested massively against spin.

“The heat and humidity you get there, it’s a very, very tough place to go. Plus, India are rightfully the number one side in the world at the minute. It was almost their second team which won in Australia a couple of weeks ago.

“It’s going to be a tremendous push to get a win there. But the lads can only take massive confidence from what they did in Sri Lanka. If Rooty can continue batting the way he is, we can get something out there.”

With that in mind, Coad is torn between head and heart when predicting the outcome of a series which began in Chennai this morning (4am GMT).

“It’s hard to say we’re going to win, but I’ll try and be an optimist and say 2-1,” he said. “As a realist, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a whitewash in India’s favour. I hope not!”

England have won their last four Test series, most recently overcoming Sri Lanka 2-0 in a short and sharp two-match series last month.

India, meanwhile, won 2-1 in Australia against their hosts either side of Christmas in a series which will live long in the memory.

The Indians gained high praise from many for the way they recovered from being bowled out for 36 in the opening Test defeat at Adelaide to win in Melbourne and Brisbane.

Not only that, they had to do it without captain Virat Kohli, who returned home after the first Test to attend the birth of his first child, while they were also struck by a number of key injuries throughout the tour.

With that win comes two schools of thought ahead of this England series, however. The obvious one is that they will be on a high and ready and raring to go. The other is that they will have put everything into the Australia victory and may find it hard to rediscover the same energy.

“I can see that thought, but it may go the other way in terms of players like Kohli, Bumrah, Ashwin and Jadeja getting a decent amount of rest,” Coad reasoned.

“I don’t think that Australia Test series will affect them too much adversely. Let’s hope it does, but I can’t really see it.

“But England will definitely go there full of confidence after Sri Lanka. Winning there was a great achievement.

“And the way Rooty played (scores of 228 and 186), he showed his class.

“He’s the best player of spin I’ve ever seen in England. He looked like he was playing on a different pitch to everyone else.

The opening Test marks Yorkshire star Root’s 100th Test cap. Added Coad: “Rooty has been a brilliant servant for England and for Yorkshire."