England’s top order has been a cause for concern. In spite of trying out several opening combinations over the last few years, they are yet to get a settled pair.

Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley have looked vulnerable most of the time as openers, with Rory Burns, who has better numbers, likely to replace either of the two during the Tests versus India.

Elaborating on England’s opening and top-order conundrums, Burns feels the openers’ role is getting tougher and tougher. “I certainly think it’s getting more and more difficult.

“Besides, in extraordinary conditions, like say in Sri Lanka, you spend time from ball one and when you have got the new ball, some spin and some skid make it the hardest place to bat. It’s the same back home when it is seaming and swinging, so those numbers suggest that opening is really a tough place to bat,” Burns, who missed the Sri Lanka Tests for the birth of his daughter, said during a virtual media conference on Thursday.

Jasprit Bumrah is back in the India squad and if match fit, he will obviously be a part of the XI. Burns minced no words to say that tackling Bumrah would be “quite hard” for him and the rest of the England batters.

“Bumrah’s quite a hard man to prepare for, isn’t he? He’s obviously unique in terms of how he comes and bowls.

“We’ll just be working those angles, try to make them work our way and try to replicate that as best as we can,” Burns said.

Given India’s strong pace attack, the visitors are aware that seam-friendly tracks may be awaiting them in the Test series. “We don’t want to have too much expectations from our spinners without knowing how the surfaces are going to be and with the Indian seam attack, they might well be slightly seamer-friendly.

“There’s a Day-Night Test too, so yeah, it could be a bit different,” Burns stated.