India vs England: Ben Stokes-led Englishmen arrive in Rajkot from Abu Dhabi ahead of third Test
India vs England: Ben Stokes-led Englishmen arrive in Rajkot from Abu Dhabi ahead of third Test
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The Ben Stokes-led England cricket team arrived in Rajkot on Monday evening ahead of the third Test against India after a short break in Abu Dhabi in their UAE, their pre-series base. Both teams got a 10-day break after the second Test in Visakhapatnam, which ended on Day 4 on 5 February with a 106-run victory for the home team.
England had pulled off a stunning 28-run win in the series opener in Hyderabad, despite conceding a 190-run first innings lead. And fresh from their week-long break in the Gulf where they had trained ahead of the marquee Test series in India, the Englishmen will be hoping to regain the series lead when they lock horns against Rohit Sharma and company at the venue where the two sides played out a high-scoring draw in 2016.
After their 106-run loss in Visakhapatnam, the England players opted to utilise the 10-day break between the second and third Test by relaxing and playing golf in Abu Dhabi.
The visiting team will begin training at SCA Stadium from Tuesday morning, while the India players will practice in the afternoon.
Read | Revisiting Team India’s record at Rajkot ahead of third Test against England
A day before their return to India, England were dealt a blow with their frontline spinner Jack Leach ruled out of the remaining three Tests with a knee injury.
However, no replacement will be called up for Leach, an indication that England will continue with the spin trio of Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir for the rest of the tour.
Joe Root is the visitors’ fourth spin option behind the three regular spinners.
England prepared for the highly anticipated Test series against India with an extensive conditioning camp in Abu Dhabi instead of arriving in the subcontinent early for practice matches.
During the Abu Dhabi camp prior to the series, the England team spent a lot of time working on ways to tackle the Indian spinners.
While they rallied to emerge winners in the opener, the English batters were blown away by Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliant exhibition of reverse swing bowling in the first innings of the second Test before succumbing in a record 399-run chase to a disciplined Indian bowling unit in their second innings.
The fourth and fifth Tests will be held in Ranchi and Dharamsala.
With PTI inputs
