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We trust judgement of ECB & BCCI: Colly

A huge touring party of 38 members took different flights but the earliest from the closest port of departure possible from England and arrived in Dubai around midnight.

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ABU DHABI: If there was any indication needed that the England team is on its way back to India under pressure, the first few hours in Abu Dhabi laid the Doubting Thomases to rest.

A huge touring party of 38 members took different flights but the earliest from the closest port of departure possible from England and arrived in Dubai around midnight.

After waiting for all members to assemble, they set off for their destination — Abu
Dhabi — which is another 160 kms and a nearly two-hour journey away.

The entourage checked into their hotel at around 6 (IST) on Friday morning. For some members, it was quite hectic, especially 10 young players, who were at the Taj Hotel in Bangalore at the time of the blasts. Despite the jetlag, the England Lions set off for an afternoon net session at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. From the cold confines of their homes and nine hours after hitting the city, every member was eager to break into a sweat. Even Andrew Flintoff, who was believed to be nursing an ankle injury and not keen on making the return trip, went some way to allay fears with a brief bowl in the nets.

“We have to believe that we are playing two Test matches against India,” said Paul Collingwood after the closed door session. “That’s the mindset. There cannot be any indecision because mentally we have to get our heads around the fact we are due to play a Test match next Thursday. As it is, we are playing catch-up because of what has happened. It is going to be a massive challenge but this kind of situation can bring a team together. Our focus is cricket. We want to keep those things (terror attacks) out of our mind.”

The last part would be easier said than done as he admitted that some players, without naming them, were indeed hesitant to pack their bags again. However, he reiterated that both the Indian and England boards were serious in their intent to get a fair assessment of the ground reality and the players trusted their judgement. “Some players were hesitant but once we got assurances from the ECB team, those players were ok with it,” he said.

“We have come here to get acclimatised with the conditions. We want to get our bodies tuned to batting for long periods and get into the groove. We will make our decision on Sunday based on the report that we get from the ECB and the PCA (for Mohali),” he said.

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