Changing weather in Ahmedabad has struck the English camp which has been hit by a sickness bug ahead of the fourth and final Test that begins at the Narendra Modi Stadium here from Thursday. A sudden rise in temperature here has affected the visitors with a few members, including assistant coach Paul Collingwood, reportedly suffering from diarrhoea.
England captain Joe Root confirmed that a bug has hit the camp without confirming what it was or how many were affected.
“There’s been a little bit of stuff flying around. We’ll keep monitoring it. To be honest, I don’t know exactly who’s been affected badly at this stage but it’s just really important we try and give everyone the best chance of being available for selection ahead of this game,” Root told British media.
India captain Virat Kohli, however, confirmed that India players are fit and fine with none of the players contracting any ailment.
“There are no health concerns or health issues. Everyone is fit and fine. Probably, (England players) would have been caught by a change in weather. It has been pretty hot over the last couple of days. It was pretty pleasant the first few days. That obviously becomes a factor at this time of the year when the weather changes rapidly. It takes a bit of time to adapt,” said Kohli while speaking to the media on Wednesday.
England are already 2-1 down in the series and also following a rotation policy which means that they are missing a number of their first-choice players like Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali who though have joined the white ball team.
It remains to be seen if the team will call up its white ball specialists if the ailment affects too many players.
“Everyone’s trained on Tuesday, everyone’s been in to practice so we’ll monitor it and try and make sure it’s not a problem,” Root said.
While the maximum temperature has hovered between 35-37 degrees Celsius over the last few days, the minimum temperature has gone up from 14-16 degrees last week to 19-20 degrees this week.
When the two teams had arrived in Ahmedabad ahead of the first Test, the maximum temperature was about 33-34 degrees Celsius.
