Fans lend full support to Viv Richards as he slams England's inability to play spin

Legendary West Indies cricketer Sir Vivian Richards has urged England to prepare well and come out all guns blazing in the fourth and final Test match against India at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad that gets underway on Thursday.

The English batsmen had failed to apply themselves in the previous two matches that were contested on spin-friendly wickets. While they suffered a humiliating 317-run loss in the second Test at Chepauk, the visitors were handed a bitter 10-wicket defeat in the previous game in Ahmedabad that had ended within two days.

'England were in their comfort zone': Viv Richards

"I have been asked questions recently about the Test match that was played in India. The second and third Test match against England. And I am a little confused about the question really because there seems to be a lot of moaning and groaning about the wicket that they were playing on. I just felt that the ones who are moaning, in my opinion, should realise that there are times that you're going to get a seaming track, a ball that is basically jumping off a good length and everyone thinks that's a problem for batters. There are times batters sometimes cope with that," said Viv Richards in a video posted on his official Instagram account.

"But now you have seen the other side, and this is why I think it was given the name Test match cricket, because of the test of the mind and will and everything else that goes with it when you are competing. And the complaints have been that the wicket is spinning too much and all that sort of stuff. This is another side of the coin guys. People seem to forget that if you are going to India, you should expect that. You are going to spin land. You should basically prepare yourself to know what you're going to encounter. Rather than the moaning and groaning, especially just recently how quickly that Test match was over. It gives England an opportunity and a chance to assess things, to believe that for some reason the wicket that they're going to encounter in the fourth Test is going to be the same. If I was India or I had anything to do with the preparations of the wicket, I would bring in very much the same", the two-time World Cup winner added.

READ: Mohammad Kaif Says He Had The 'best Seat' To Watch Sachin Tendulkar's 98 Against Pak

Meanwhile, Viv Richards also went on to mention that the Joe Root-led side were in their comfort zone ever since the first Test match where they had registered a 227-run win to draw first blood in the series and that it is high time for them to find ways and means to cope with what they are going to encounter.

"Ever since that first Test match, England were in their comfort zone. They have now been taken out of their comfort zone at present and they have got to find ways and means to cope with what they are going to encounter. Spin in all part of the game, this is what a Test match brings. The Indian pacers have been brilliant over the past few years in terms of substance, the wicket-taking ability, and stuff like that. But now that you are in India, you are going to encounter things and have got to find a way. You are going to get dirty. There is nothing in the rule book that says I have got to score my runs in pretty classical ways", the Caribbean legend said. 

Watch Richards' full analysis here: 

Even the passionate cricket fans strongly agreed with the yesteryear batsman's opinion on the England team's lack of preparations to play on the Indian surface. Here's what they had to say.

READ: BCCI Official Fires PCB Chief Ehsan Mani For Questioning India Over Visa Assurances

READ: NSW Coach Lauds Dynamic Opener David Warner For Working Hard On His Rehab