DHARAMSALA: As ‘Livin’ on a prayer’ by Bon Jovi goes off on the speaker at one of the the practice facilities of the HPCA Stadium, England coach Brendon McCullum goes ‘woah, another classic’. It’s been that kind of a day for England. They are here at the venue in the morning, wearing sweatshirts and pullovers as they would do on a cold England morning.
They have hit the nets and are warming up to get into the groove — the mood on the speakers, understandably, is full throttle. The playlists include songs by Guns N’ Roses, The Killers, AC/DC, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. And just when Free Bird by the latter is on, Jonny Bairstow seems to be having a ball. The Englishman, who would also join the 100-Test club this week with R Ashwin, seems to be hitting his way out of every ball — at least from the outside. Ask him later, how he was batting, he would say, “that was probably the worst stint I’ve had, I am not sure which nets you were watching.”
Meanwhile, at the other net, Joe Root is attempting a reverse ramp and several members of the England camp are letting out a bit of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’. England captain Ben stokes, who was about to leave the nets, mimics something on the lines of “how dare you/you cannot do that” and everyone breaks into a laugh. That, and what Bairstow said, perfectly sums up how England are approaching the game and the mood in the camp.
It might seem like they are doing well and everything is going their way from outside, they would come out and say that it was not and do so with confidence while having a laugh about it. They are feeling a lot more at home in terms of conditions, but at the same time, quickly reiterate that it is an used pitch — the last Ranji game that was played here between Delhi and Himachal Pradesh saw the away team bat at 6.19 run rate — where truckloads of runs were scored and pacers had a bit of help at the same time. Unlike the ODI World Cup, the outfield at the venue looks spectacular, something even Bairstow credited the groundsmen for, and despite the lush green outfield and moisture in the air, it could still well be a slow wicket with no trouble for batters.
For India, all the 16 members were present at the training, with captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid landing from a chopper after attending an event in Bilaspur alongside Sports Minister Anurag Thakur. At this point, it is still not clear how the combinations are going to be, but it should not come as a surprise if chilly weather has a say in it.
