India vs England: Visitors make late request for warm-up games ahead of five-match Test series

Recent reports suggest that the England Cricket Board (ECB) is looking to accommodate India’s late request to tweak their summer tour itinerary and slot in some warm-up opposition ahead of their five-match Test series starting August 4.

According to a Daily Mail report, India were originally slated to face their own A side in two fixtures. However, that plan changed when the second team couldn’t make it to England due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Now they are hoping to play one such four-day match and take on a county select XI over three days in another fixture. Both games are hoped to be played on the north-east side of the country, where the team will stay for the initial fortnight of the long tour.

An ECB spokesperson shed light on the news, telling Daily Mail:

“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 July 15 and will prepare at the venue until August 1 before heading to Trent Bridge, Nottingham ahead of the first Test starting on August 4,” he added.

The report also added that the county fixtures for New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were withdrawn due to the same reason. All 2021 tourists are expected to make arrangements for their own match practice ahead of the start of the series.

India vs England marks the start of the second WTC cycle

The five-match Pataudi Trophy between the two sides will mark the second cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC). The series along with the Ashes, scheduled for December, will be the only two series comprising five Tests in the second WTC cycle, according to ESPNCricinfo.

Australia's tour of India in 2022 is the only four-Test series in WTC 2. This will be followed by seven three-Test series and 13 series comprising two Tests, the report added. The ICC has yet to decide on the schedule and venue for the final.

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India's squad for the England series

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).

Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla