After Vizag Test loss England head back to Abu Dhabi to spend time with family and play golf | Cricket News
The Ben Stokes-led England cricket team have head back to their Abu Dhabi training camp with their families and play some golf for an unusually long nine-day break before the Rajkot Test.
After their 106-run loss in Vishakhapatnam, the England team instead of having more intensive practice on their menu, they have opted to utilize the 10-day break between the second and third Test as a relaxation.
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.
“We had full belief in ourselves that we could chase that down,’ said the England captain,” said the England captain.
“The way we have gone about taking on challenges like that is what we’re about. The way we applied ourselves and put India under pressure was great but unfortunately we didn’t end up on the right side of the result,” he said.
“We’re a level headed team and that allows us to put this behind us and move on to the next Test and concentrate on what we need to do there.
“We were pretty level last week even though we had achieved something special and even though we’ve lost we’re very upbeat in the changing room and very high about some of the great stuff we’ve been able to do.”
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.
England pitched up in India expecting a spin cycle but it was Jasprit Bumrah, who has rattled England with his six-wicket burst of reverse swing on day two, that swinged the momentum towards India.
The England team will have to asses the Jack Leach’s knee injury, who missed the second Test. Indian, meanwhile, are waiting to see whether Virat Kohli’s own personal issue has eased enough for him to feature in Rajkot but will again be without Jadeja, who could miss the rest of the series with his hamstring injury.