India to play warm-up match against ‘Select County XI’ ahead of five-Test series against England

India are set to play a warm-up match against a ‘Select County XI’ ahead of their first Test against England in Nottingham, which starts on August 4. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said that it is working on COVID-19 protocols to organise the match which is set to be held in the third week of July.

The three-day match will be accorded first-class status and the team, which was earlier called the ‘Combined Counties’ will consist of players from the County circuit. Tentative dates for the game is between July 20-22.

“We are aware of a request from the BCCI to play a three-day warm-up match against a County Select XI as part of the Indian men’s Test teams build-up to the five-match Test series,” an ECB spokesperson told PTI.

“We are working through the operations and COVID-19 protocols to ensure we are able to deliver this and will confirm in due course. The Indian Test team will report to Emirates Riverside, Durham for their pre-Test camp on 15 July and will prepare at the venue until August 1 before heading to Trent Bridge, Nottingham ahead of the first Test starting on August 4,” the spokesperson added.

When asked what the quality of the opposition will be, considering that ‘The Hundred’ is starting from July 23, the spokesperson said: “It will be players that aren’t in ‘The Hundred’ and we will look to select strongest squad available.”

A number of former players, including batting great Sunil Gavaskar, had said that India were underprepared for the Word Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand, which they lost by eight wickets. While New Zealand arrived in the United Kingdom almost a month earlier than India and beat England 1-0 in a two-match Test series, India could only play an intra-squad match.

Captain Virat Kohli, after losing the final, had expressed his displeasure at not being given a first-class game and BCCI had requested the ECB for a practice game. The Indian team management has understood that it is not possible to prepare well without a proper first-class or at least a warm-up game against an opposition side.