The England players were taken aback by the pleasant weather in Dharamsala, contrary to their perception before reaching here, but had to miss a chance to meet The Dalai Lama on Friday, says a report in The Times Of India, adding that the players enjoyed their break to the fullest as they travelled to McLeod Ganj in order to meet one of the most renowned spiritual leaders of the world.
“They wanted a meeting with the Dalai Lama but according to sources, His Holiness declined the offer since he has gone into a "spiritual retreat". Star batsman Kevin Pietersen also tweeted about visiting at the residence of The Dalai Lama. "His Holiness himself.. Such an interesting morning visiting his residence!" tweeted Pietersen, attaching a photograph of him beside the Tibetan spiritual leader,” adds the report.
But, what has completely caught the tourists by surprise was the bright sunny weather contrary to reports in the British media about the stadium and the ground being covered by snowfall. In fact, as the England team's bus was climbing up the hill road, skipper Alastair Cook, sitting at the rear clad in white body hugging T-shirt, was happily clicking the pictures of the snow-capped Dhauladhar range as they were followed by the members of the British media.
Meanwhile a report in Hindustan Times says that all week, as they prepared and played the fourth one-dayer in Mohali, England players fielded questions from their travelling media on how they had planned to avoid the trip to this Himachal Pradesh hill station for the final game.
“Although organisers were confident the weather would hold, skipper Alastair Cook was even asked whether he had apprehensions taking the short flight from Chandigarh to Kangra, near Dharamsala. It was all based on the assumption that the venue had received heavy snowfall and would be in no shape to hold a game. But since they landed on Thursday to play in the first ODI to be staged at this venue — at around 1320m, the highest international cricket venue in the world — the England players have been raving about its scenic beauty,” says the report.
According to a report in Deccan Chronicle, with the picturesque HPCA Stadium being given a final lick of paint and a last-minute scrubdown, the focus now is on the field of play, which bears a verdant, plush look despite the intense winter here. “We’ve gone in for two kinds of grass here,” Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association president Anurag Thakur said here on Friday, ahead of the fifth and final one-day international between India and England here on Sunday. “One kind which we laid around October flourishes in the clod and the other emerges in the summer.
“That’s one reason why despite the cold, which otherwise would have burned the grass, the playing area still looks so green.”