The view of Dharamshala at dawn is truly mesmerising. The town is arranged in tiers, with the residential areas located downhill. On the opposite side, referred to as “upside” by Ramesh, the owner of a tea stall near the stadium, lies McLeodganj, which is home to the Dalai Lama and several monasteries.
The World Cup has brought some relief to this beautiful region of Himachal Pradesh, located at the foot of the Himalayas, which was hit by devastating floods in July and August. Although Dharamshala didn’t see the worst of it, the natural calamity still hurt the tourism sector here.
The view is beautiful, but the England team has had a difficult time preparing for its second game against Bangladesh at the HPCA Stadium. Jos Buttler’s team is one of only two, along with India, to travel after every pool match. England’s national selector Luke Wright had raised concerns about this before the tournament. “We are aware that with a lot of travel and many games in a short space of time, there is a risk of injury to our bowlers. We need to have cover for that,” he said.
Not to mention the Kangra airport, just outside the city, is too small to handle large aircraft. The journey from Ahmedabad to Dharamshala for the fans, broadcasters, and journalists was, to paraphrase a former England cricketer, “very cramped”.
The players and their entourage have switched from the hot and humid climate of Ahmedabad, where temperatures reach 35 degrees, to the cooler climate here, where the mercury levels will be around 24 degrees during the morning when the match begins.
No surprise then that the English players chose to have a light training session on Sunday, perhaps using the time out to adjust to the conditions.
The focus was, of course, on Ben Stokes, who took throwdowns for nearly 40 minutes before hitting the main square for a light running session. While Stokes being out and about are encouraging signs, it is unlikely that he will play any part in Tuesday’s game.
The England team will train again on Monday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., when the team combination for the second match will probably become clearer.
