England are currently in Rajkot to play the third Test against India at the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium.
Rajkot: England should have no complaints with the hospitality shown towards them as the hotel Ben Stokes’ men are staying in, is being branded naming the visitors. England are currently on a five-match Test tour to India. They started with a huge win in Hyderabad before the hosts leveled the series with a 106-run thumping in Visakhapatnam. In the ongoing third Test match, India are on a driver’s seat with 326/5 on board on the opening day.
Based on a Daily Mail report, the English contingent are being well treated. A huge banner with pictures of English players and text ‘Welcome To England’ is being proudly displayed just outside the lobby. Inside the lobby, boards and bats with names and autographs from players of both teams are being put up. Besides the current lot, it also has names and autographs of the bunch from 2016 who stayed at this very same place.
The most significant displays have been put on the lifts that are only reserved for the English players with motivational message ‘Let’s unfold victory’ proudly displayed. Statistically, this is England’s second visit at this ground in the longest format of the game.
England’s only visit to Rajkot prior to the ongoing Test match was in 2016 when they drew against India. Alastair Cook was the captain of that England side seven years back. Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes are the only four players from the 2016 side that are currently playing in the ongoing series.
Earlier, unlike the other visiting teams, England took a different approach to this Test series on Indian soil. Going against the norm, England arrived in India just three days before the first Test and didn’t play a practice game to get acclimatised with the conditions.
They held a pre-series training camp in Abu Dhabi before heading to India. Similarly after the second Test match, which they lost, the English contingent once again flew to Abu Dhabi for a eight-day break to rejuvenate with their families. There was a gap of 10 days between the second and third Test matches.
As far as the current situation is concerned, India are on the driver’s seat in the third Test. Riding on centuries from captain Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, India piled 326/5 at the end of Day 1. Sarfaraz Khan also scored a brilliant 62 on his maiden Test innings. While Rohit was out for 131, Jadeja remained unbeaten on 110 with Kuldeep Yadav in company.