India and England sweat it out during training ahead of Nottingham Test- in pictures

Five-match series begins in Nottingham on Wednesday

England captain Joe Root, left, and India captain Virat Kohli meet with the trophies prior to the first Test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, which begins on Wednesday.

England's Rory Burns takes part in a training session at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground in Nottingham on Tuesday, August 3,ahead of the first Test against India.

England's James Anderson during practice session in Nottingham om Tuesday.

Virat Kohli of during a training session at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

England captain Joe Root during trains on the eve of the first Test against India in Nottingham.

England's Jos Buttler arrives for a training session at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground.

India coach Ravi Shastri oversees the training session in Nottingham.

Fast bowler Ishant Sharma runs during a training session.

England captain Joe Root bats as Jonny Bairstow look on during training.

England quick Mark Wood during training at Trent Bridge.

India's Cheteshwar Pujara during practice session in Nottingham.

India's Jasprit Bumrah during training ahead of the five-match Test series.

India players prepare for the first Test against England.

India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant during training.

Hosts England and India hit the ground running as they prepared for the first match of the five-Test series, which begins in Nottingham on Wednesday.

Both teams have a lot of ground to cover as they kickstart the new World Test Championship cycle. Joe Root's England lost the home Test series to New Zealand in June and now have to contend with the absence of all-rounder Ben Stokes, who has taken a break to focus on his mental well-being.

Also, star speedster Jofra Archer remains unavailable. The Barbados-born quick underwent elbow surgery in May and has since made a low-key return for Sussex, but is not yet ready for Test cricket.

While those are setbacks, memories from their 4-1 win over Virat Kohli's India in 2018 should fill them with confidence as the visitors have a particularly poor record in English conditions.

The Indians have an equally major task. They lost the World Test Championship final to New Zealand in June, handing them another defeat in a world title match. They will be without key batting options like Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal, the later just for the first Test, and that will only give the tourists more problems to solve in batting - their weaker department.

The pitch for the opening Test as an even covering of grass, which means veteran seamer James Anderson could well be the biggest factor in the series.