Dhawan in hospital before third ODI
Internet Desk: Both the England and India team were stranded at Kolkata road for one hour 45 minutes due to political unrest in the city. The team management was very offended due to the delay on the streets. The CPIM protestors blockaded the Science City and Milan Mela area protesting the recent Police firing in Bhangor area. Hundreds of supporters thronged the streets and clashed with the police. Indian team en route to the hotel from Airport got stranded in the huge traffic jam.
The Indian and England cricket teams arrived in Kolkata on Friday for the third & final One-day International (ODI) to be played at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
India took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series, after defeating the visitors by 15 runs in the second game at Cuttack on Thursday.
The Virat Kohli-led side, however, landed in the city without head coach Anil Kumble, who is expected to arrive later in the evening.
Despite the tie having no effect on the outcome of the series, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) sources said it would be a full house at the Eden with tickets being almost sold out.
After middle order veteran Yuvraj Singh (150) and former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s (134) fireworks at the Barabati Stadium, the demand for tickets for the final tie went up.
On another news, Out-of-form India opener Shikhar Dhawan on Friday checked into a private hospital after landing in the city for the third and final One-Day International (ODI) against England.
Dhawan, who scored 1 and 11 in the two ODIs in Pune and Cuttack respectively, is going through a lean patch with the bat. He headed to Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals after reaching the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.
“We cannot confirm the extent of his injury or whether it is just a routine check up right now. But he was here,” a hospital official said.
Dhawan was previously injured in the New Zealand ODI series. It opened up a place for Ajinkya Rahane to open the batting with Rohit Sharma, who is himself not playing against England due to injury.
While Rahane managed only 143 runs in five innings, the graceful right-hander made a crisp 91 in the second warm-up match against England.
If Dhawan is ruled out or dropped for the third rubber with the series already in the home team’s kitty, leading 2-0 in the three-match series, Rahane might get a look in with the other opener K.L. Rahul who is also struggling to score runs.
Meanwhile, the Eden pitch is likely to be bereft of any grass, allowing batsmen to score heavily.
It was learnt that Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president and former India captain Sourav Ganguly had asked curator Sujan Mukherjee to remove any layer of grass on the pitch.
With inputs from PTI.