India's captain Rahul Dravid sent out a warning to his team mates, saying experience does not mean much if not backed by good performances.
"It's going to be a pretty even series, evenly contested. I think they [England] have got players who are in form and batting well.
"I mean experience doesn't count for much; it is performances that count for everything. You can have all the experience in the world but everyone starts on zero, everyone starts with a clean state," he said at Lord's, on eve of the first Test.
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The experienced Indian team, boasting of the strongest batting line-up in world cricket in Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, will have their task cut out as India aims to win its first ever Test series in England since 1986.
"What really matters is not what you have done in the past, but what you do at that point of time. The team that performs during the course of this series or during the course of this Test match is the one that is going to end up winning. All the past records are meaningless when play starts tomorrow," said Dravid.
Tendulkar is on his fourth, and possibly his last, Test tour to England and fans are hoping he can produce some magic and lead India to victory. He dismissed any notions about his batting with a blazing hundred in the tour game against England Lions, and even his captain is delighted with his form.
"I don't think there should be any immediate concerns about Sachin or his form. He is in good enough form for us not to have concerns at this stage," Dravid said.
He also gave full backing to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has not had a good time behind the stumps in the two warm-up games.
"So far, Dhoni has not done anything wrong in his international career. I think it is a learning experience for Dhoni, just like anyone else coming here for the first time, playing away from home in these conditions. His keeping and batting is going to be tested," he said.
"It is a learning experience and you can only learn from experience and gain from it. He has the attributes of a good international career in him and like anyone else he is going to have good days and bad days.
"As long as he keeps learning and the more opportunities that he gets the better off he is going to be and we are going to see him come through and play an important role in the future as well," Dravid added.
The Karnataka batsman believes that even though India's bowling line-up is inexperienced, his bowlers are talented and capable of troubling the English batsmen.
"We have got some new bowlers who do a few different things. We have got S Sreesanth with a bit of pace and swings the ball away. Zaheer has comeback well; he is our most experienced bowler. He has got some experience in these conditions and he is probably going to lead our attack.
"We have got R P Singh, who is young and promising and coming through. We have a couple of other quicks - Ishant Sharma and Ranadeb Bose - who have come on this tour through the weight of their performances in domestic cricket.
"Anil Kumble and Ramesh Powar will be the spin combination. So we have a group of boys there who bring different things to team and, hopefully, we can get the right combination in for the Test match," he said.
Dravid believes that if India can counter Monty Panesar's threat, it will put a lot of pressure on England's young pacers.
"I think if we play Monty well it is going to put a lot of pressure on their pacers. It will be a challenge playing him in these conditions. We have watched and studied some of his tapes on the video. He has bowled quite impressively. As much as it is going to be a challenge for us, it is going to a challenge for him and we are looking forward to it. I think he forms a key component of their attack.
"In a four-man pace attack the spinner becomes a key man," he said.
The 34-year-old said it would be "special" winning a first Test series in England since 1986.
"It would be special to win a Test match anywhere. It would be special to win a Test series; we haven't done that for 20 years so it would be nice to do that," he said.
