India To Play Warm-Up Match Against The Counties Select XI From 20-22 July At Durham

Indian cricket team will be playing a warm-up game against the Counties Select XI side which will be hosted by Durham county at the Emirates Riverside ground from July 20-22, 2021, announced the Durham Cricket Club on their website.

Indian team members have been on a break since their loss in the final of the World Test Championship to New Zealand at Southampton’s Ageas Bowl on 23^rd June 2021. The players have been sightseeing and spending time with family around London, but will be assembling in Durham to enter the bio-bubble for the five-match Test series against England.

The five-match Test series will start with the first Test to be played at the Trent Bridge ground in Nottingham. The second Test will be played from August 12 at Lord’s, the third Test match will be played from August 25 at Leeds, the fourth Test will be played at the Oval from September 2^nd and the last and fifth Test will be played in Manchester from September 10.

India Vs Counties Select XI Game To Be Played At Durham Behind Closed Doors From July 20, 2021

One of the major reasons cited for India’s loss in the WTC final to New Zealand was the lack of preparation as Virat Kohli’s men came off a long layoff after the IPL 2021 was suspended in May and played just one intra-squad match and had 8-10 net sessions before facing the Kiwis in the final.

Therefore, Virat Kohli urged the BCCI to arrange for practice games before the England Test series to facilitate the preparations and ECB relented despite dilly-dallying over the issue citing the COVID-19 situation.

Durham County Cricket Club has announced on their website and Twitter that Team India will use the use Emirates Riverside as a home venue for their preparations this summer, and will get underway with a three-day game against a county select XI on Tuesday 20 July at 11 am.

The match will be a 3-day affair and play will get underway at 11 am on Tuesday with 90 overs scheduled per day with the game being played strictly behind closed doors. Durham will stream all three days of play via the Durham Cricket YouTube channel bringing multi-camera coverage of all the action.

Former Indian first-class cricketer Abhishek Jhunjhunwala will join the commentary team along with BBC journalists Kevin Howells and Mark Church.

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