Welcome to the coverage of the first Test between India and England in  Birmingham, on Wednesday.

India would be driven by the desire to shed the poor travellers' tag, while England would be desperate to arrest the recent slide at home when the two teams clash in a five-match Test series.

England will be playing their 1000th Test and it will be up to World No.1 India to spoil the home teams party.

India last won a Test series in England in 2007 under Rahul Dravid, and it will be no easy task ahead of the Virat Kohli-led side to replicate that feat.

Under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India failed in 2011 and 2014, losing by heavy 4-0 and 3-1 margins, respectively. In fact, India have only won six out of the 57 matches played on English soil.

England's Test form coming into this series is also a cause of concern.

Since September 2017, England have only won one out of nine Tests played against Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan.

They have been beaten twice in their last five home Tests by West Indies and Pakistan, with the pace attack of both the touring sides exploiting the weaknesses in a batting line-up heavily dependent on Root, Jonny Bairstow and seasoned opener Alastair Cook.

India, meanwhile, will be buoyed by the fact that three out of their six wins here have come since 2002. India's assistant coach Sanjay Bangar was part of the Test squad, led by Sourav Ganguly, that won at Leeds.

Wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik was part of the 2007 series-winning squad. Skipper Virat Kohli and Ishant Sharma toured here in 2011 and 2014 and seven other players in the current side have also featured during that last trip.

But India's record at Edgbaston is exceptionally poor with five losses in six Tests here stretching back to 1967.