This team never gives excuses of conditions or pitch: Shastri
Chelmsford, July 25 : Rubbishing media reports that suggested that the Indian team decided to cut their originally scheduled four-day practice game against Essex to a three-day affair due to the nature of the pitch, head coach Ravi Shastri said the current unit isn't concerned about these issues.
Various media reports on Tuesday suggested that the Indian team management decided to cut their practice game by a day after taking a look at the pitch and the outfield.
"There was no complaint from the Indian management about anything. On this entire trip, you will never see an Indian team giving excuses with regard to conditions or the pitch," Shastri was quoted as saying by the BCCI website.
"One thing, on this trip, you will never see this Indian team giving an excuse as regarding conditions or the pitch. Our challenge is to beat them. We take pride in performing wherever we go and we want to be the best travelling side in the world.
"The last person to complain will be this Indian team, so I want to clarify this very clearly," he added.
Shastri also explained the "cricketing reason" behind the team's decision to curtail a day of practice before the first Test starts on August 1 in Birmingham.
"The game was reduced from four days to three because of the logistics and the weather prevailing," he said referring to the hot weather conditions. "We had an opportunity to practice three days in Birmingham which is the Test venue. If we had played four days here we would have lost one day there because of travel," he said.
"As simple as that because the prerogative whether to play a two-day, three-day or four-day game lies entirely with the travelling team," he added.
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Davangere: Two policemen injured in stone pelting during Ganesha procession
Davangere: Reports state that two groups engaged in stone pelting at each other during Ganesha idol immersion ceremony in Davangere on Thursday. Two police personnel were injured in the incident.
Few days ago, two groups of youth engaged in verbal altercation regarding raising of a flag for Eid Milad celebration. On account of the clashes, police had heightened security for the Ganesha procession. Despite the additional security, stones were pelted at the procession, sources stated. Inspector Gururaj and constable Raghavendra were injured in the incident. The procession continued after the police brought the situation to control. However, the stone pelting resumed once again as the procession surged forwards.
Security has been tightened up in the area and all shops have been closed down by the police. The two police personnel, who were injured in the stone pelting, are undergoing treatment at a hospital.
