Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia, wicketkeeper and batter of Indian women's cricket team, claimed on Monday that she was robbed of her valuables, including cash, credit cards, and jewellery, while she was staying at the Marriott Hotel in London. The incident happened during the women's team stay at Marriot Hotel in London for their UK tour.
Bhatia expressed hope that the hotel management would conduct a prompt investigation, saying she was stunned by the lack of security at the England Cricket Board's (ECB's) preferred hotel partner.
"Shocked and disappointed at Marriot Hotel London Maida Vale management; someone walked into my personal room and stole my bag with cash, cards, watches and jewellery during my recent stay as a part of Indian Women's Cricket team. So unsafe," Bhatia tweeted.
"Hoping for a quick investigation and resolution of this matter. Such lack of security at @ECB_cricket's preferred hotel partner is astounding. Hope they will take cognisance as well," she wrote in another tweet.
Following Taniyaa's complaint, the hotel responded via their Twitter handle and wrote, "Hi Taniya, we are sorry to hear this. Please DM us your name and the email address you made the reservation with and the exact dates of your stay, so we can look into this further." India had played 3 T20Is and as many ODIs in England from September 10 to 24. Bhatia was part of India's women's ODI squad.
The Indian team recently concluded its tour of the United Kingdom with a first-ever 3-0 ODI whitewash of the hosts, with the series ending controvercially following Deepti Sharma's 'mankading' of Charlie Dean in the final match at Lord's last Saturday.
'Mankading' means running out the non-striking batter when they begin to leave the crease while the bowler is still in their final delivery stride. The term 'Mankading' comes from the name of the legendary former Indian cricketer Vinoo Mankad.