Arun Singh Dhumal welcomes England team with 'perfect conditions' at HPCA

New Delhi: Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Arun Singh Dhumal, in a social media post, on Friday welcomed the England cricket team for the fifth and last Test match of the series scheduled to take place from March 7, at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala.

After winning the first Test in Hyderabad by 28 runs, England suffered back-to-back defeats as India with a five-wicket win in Ranchi took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the 5-Test series. This marked India's 17th consecutive Test series win at home (the most by any country).

This was the first Test series loss for England since Brendon McCullum took over as the head coach with Ben Stokes as captain.

In a social media post on X (formerly Twitter), Arun Singh Dhumal welcomed the England team with “perfect conditions” and shared a picture of HPCA.

“Perfect English conditions to welcome England cricket team after series loss. “Atithi Devo Bhava” by none other than Lord Indra Deva in the true sense to welcome TheBarmyArmy for the #INDvsENG 5th Test at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala.”

India’s win in the fourth Test was fashioned by knocks of 90 and 39 not out from Dhruv Jurel while sharing a crucial 76-run stand for the eighth wicket with Kuldeep Yadav in the first innings and a decisive 72-run partnership for the sixth wicket in the second innings with Shubman Gill, who made 55 not out.

With the ball, debutant fast-bowler Akash Deep took three wickets on Day One, followed by Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep taking 5-51 and 4-22 respectively in the second innings, to give India their 17th consecutive Test series win at home.

The fifth Test will start on March 7 and England will eye for a consolation win.