Silverwood reflects on unsuccessful England tour with pride
England may have left India empty-handed after series defeats across all three formats, but head coach Chris Silverwood reflected on a long winter of touring with pride in place of regrets.
Silverwood left home for Sri Lanka on January 2 and spent almost three full months on one of the most restrictive away trips ever undertaken, taking in quarantines and biosecure bubbles in Hambantota, Galle, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune.
On the field, England peaked in the first Test against India, following back-to-back wins in Sri Lanka with a memorable success in the series opener against Virat Kohli's men, who bounced back to take the red-ball, Twenty20 and ODI honours.
England did not make things easy, taking both white-ball legs to a decider and going all the way to a final over in the one-dayers thanks to Sam Curran's rousing fightback.
Looking back on a long and arduous assignment, Silverwood could only commend his troops.
"I'm very proud of them, I'm proud of each and every player who has been out here," he said. "I'm proud of the effort and the attitude. I think we've learned a lot and from that point of view I couldn't ask any more of them. I think we take a lot of experience.
"It's a very difficult place to come and win,but there's been lots of encouragement. We've got valuable experience for the T20 World Cup that's coming up here. Looking at the Test series, with the amount of experience the youngsters will take from playing in those conditions, when they come back again they'll know what to do and have a better game plan."