By NNN-PTI,
Bangalore (India) : The England cricket team which arrived here on a transit halt left for home Saturday morning.
The team which reached here from Bhubaneshwar Friday evening had been put in a reputed city hotel for the night stay.
The entire hotel was put under high security vigil with even the media barred from interacting with the team.
The England team had cut short their one-day series following the volatile situation in Mumbai.
The team was schedule to stay in Taj in Mumbai, one of the hotels under terrorist attack, during the second match to be held from Dec 19 to 23.
In LONDON, England cricketers’ decision to abandon the one-day series against India and return home after the terror attack in Mumbai has been backed by the nation’s cricket fraternity, which termed it a ‘sensible’ move.
Kevin Pietersen’s men, trailing 0-5 in the seven-match ODI series, decided to return home after cancelling the remaining two matches in the wake of the devastating terror strikes in the financial capital of India.
Both the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) and its English counterpart are optimistic about England’s return to India for the Test matches and in a bid to salvage the two-match series, the BCCI Friday shifted the venue of the second Test from the terror-hit Mumbai to Chennai.
But if the English players are reluctant to travel back to India, they have an ally in former England and Wales Cricket Board Chairman Lord MacLaurin.
“It was absolutely the right decision to come home. The England cricket team are very high-profile individuals. If these fanatics are going to target people then the England cricket side could be a very big target for them,” MacLaurin was quoted as saying by ‘The Guardian’.
“My own view is that I would be very, very surprised if the security people will give them the OK to go back. I don’t think they should go back. I think it’s sad for cricket but the safety of our players is absolutely paramount and I am sure the ECB will take the same view,” he added.