Ian Bell hoping for England recall ahead of their tour to the subcontinent

The England cricket team have a busy schedule ahead as they travel to the Indian subcontinent in the winter, and discarded batsman Ian Bell is hoping for recall to the Test side considering that the conditions there will challenge batsmen.

Bell who last played for England during their 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Pakistan in November 2015 has made himself available for selection, hoping that his experience of subcontinent conditions will make selectors pick him for the Test squad.

"I think it's a really exciting winter for English cricket. The subcontinent is a tough place to go, and to win out there particularly in India is tough. The cricket will be hard as Bangladesh are improving all the time as we've seen. England want to improve their skills and win some cricket on the subcontinent, so it's going to be an exciting winter and hopefully I'm part of that, but if I'm watching it then I hope the guys go well," Bell said, as quoted by Sky Sports.

The 34-year-old has been one of the pillars of English cricket since his debut in 2004, scoring 7,727 runs in 118 Test matches with 22 centuries and 5416 runs in 161 One Day Internationals. Since his omission from the side, the right-handed batsman has been churning out runs for county side Warwickshire, and insists that his focus is with the county and hopes that they win the last two matches of the season.

Bell has also come out in support of Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales, who decided not to tour Bangladesh, attracting criticism from former cricketers and the media.

"I think the players will be very united. They will back Morgy and he's been a fantastic captain for England so I don't think that will be any pressure from inside but I'm sure lots of people will talk and lots of people will have their opinions," the veteran said.