Former Indian captain Rohit Sharma reached London early to begin preparations for the upcoming three-ODI series against England, starting July 14 in Birmingham. TimesofIndia.com has learned that Rohit has already had two full sessions at local clubs in and around London with his close friends and local club bowlers.Slough Cricket Club, located in the heart of Berkshire, was Rohit’s first destination before he moved to Swyncombe Cricket Club near Blondin Park. Rohit, who currently plays only ODIs for the country, wants to acclimatise before joining the team in Birmingham. The experienced campaigner knows the challenges of playing in these conditions and wants to be fully prepared before the action begins. The 39-year-old has enjoyed playing in England and has an outstanding ODI record. In 27 matches, the right-hander amassed 1428 runs at an average of 64.9 and hit seven hundreds – the most by a visiting batter. Rohit did not play much cricket due to his hamstring injury before the ODIs against Afghanistan but still managed to complete the assignment with a long 79-run knock in Chennai. It wasn’t the smoothest of starts but the former captain hit the right gear and looked in top touch before being dismissed by Mohammed Nabi. India will badly need its experienced batter to fire on all cylinders in England as the T20I team is in the middle of a terrible performance. The batters failed to adjust and adapt to the conditions, and were clearly nursing the hangover of playing in the batting paradises of the IPL. There were some concerns about Rohit’s health ahead of the Afghanistan series, but he fielded and showered without any discomfort and is believed to be in peak physical form ahead of the fixtures in Birmingham, Cardiff and London.