India Essex Warm-up game
India's warm-up game against Essex got reduced to three days instead of four because of the heat waves in the country. Image Courtesy: Getty Images

India’s only warm-up game ahead of the five-match Test series against England got reduced to a three-day affair. The BCCI had made the request for the same.

Originally, the match was meant to be a four-day game against Essex. It gave rise to speculations that it could be a first-class match.

However, the Indian team management has opted to play the match plainly as a warm-up and reduced it to a three-day game. But according to a report in Cricbuzz, the ongoing heat wave in England is the main reason behind it. Temperatures in London this week are forecast to be minimum 30 C.

ENG vs IND 2018: India's Warm-up Game Against Essex Reduced to Three Days
Credits: BCCI

The news outlet claimed Essex are disappointed by the BCCI’s decision. The county outfit is not pleased with the late notice. Refunds will be given to all those who have bought tickets for Saturday.

Essex confirmed the development through a media release, saying,

“Essex Cricket and the England & Wales Cricket Board have today agreed, at the request of the BCCI Management Team, that the scheduled Tourist match between Essex and India will now be played over three days.”

“Spectators who have purchased a ticket for the scheduled final day’s play on Saturday will receive a full refund,” it added.

As per the original schedule, the game starts on Wednesday (July 25) but will now end on Friday instead of Saturday. The match begins at 11 am (local) on all three days, under customary playing conditions.

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Meanwhile, India will now get an extra day to prepare at Edgbaston before the first Test starts there on August 1. Initially, India would have reached Birmingham on July 29. However, now they will arrive a day earlier and are likely to have three days of nets before the Test.

India will be keen to bounce back to winning ways after losing the ODIs. They had started the tour on a brilliant note, winning the T20I’s 2-1. However, the hosts came out on top in the ODIs. India will now be desperate to avenge the loss in the upcoming series. The visitors have lost seven of the last nine Tests in England and have won just one.

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