Ahmedabad: England fielding coach Paul Collingwood said on Friday that the tourists have viewed the fifth and decisive Twenty20 (T20) international against India in Ahmedabad on Saturday as "a final for us."
Hosts India defeated England by eight runs on Thursday to level the series at 2-2 ahead of the decider at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
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"Both teams (England and India) know that. It feels like another great opportunity to get experience under the belt of knockout cricket. It is like a final for us. And we have got two fantastic sides that are going head-to-head that are in good form and playing some good cricket. So it is an exciting one. And, when you are leading into World Cups, you need these kinds of experiences to see how players deal with the pressure. And it is just another experience that you can go into when you get to that World Cup, that you can draw upon and use the memories of that too, hopefully, have success in," Paul said.
India will also be the hosts for the 2021 ICC men's T20 World Cup, which will take place later this year in October and November.
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"When World Cups come around, it is how you play on the day - you have one opportunity. It would be a great confidence booster for all of the players to play against such a high-quality side (India) in their own backyard, and to win the series (3-2). So there is a lot of excitement around, to have the chance to do it. A five-match series, to go 2-2 in the series and then have one game as the decider, is perfect for everyone. And, obviously, we would have loved to have been well ahead (in the series). But that is not the case. But we can get a lot of positives out of this last match," Paul added.
But Collingwood said that, even if his side were to complete a dramatic series victory over India on Saturday, he did not feel that it would give England a psychological advantage heading into the World Cup.
England are also due to play three one-day international fixtures against India in Pune on 23rd, 26th and 28th March.
