Test Specialists May Fly to England Early, Might Play for India A Too

Taking lessons from the Test series defeat in South Africa, BCCI may send the Test specialist players to England, early.

A report in TOI suggests that BCCI is planning to send Test players early to England to prepare for the series.

It wasn’t the case for the South Africa Test series.

The team management had adopted the idea, but the board later crushed it.

One of the major reasons for that was the cramped schedule. Players like Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya were part of the team for home series against Sri Lanka too.

Both Bumrah and Pandya played all three Tests while Rohit played in first two.

“One thing is certain. If the Indian team had spent at least 10 days in South Africa before the first Test, it would have made a lot of difference to the end result. The team is determined that each player gets enough time and exposure in England before the actual series begins. The idea is to park more and more players in England and ensure that the cricketers are ready for the entire series. With England also scheduled to host the 50-over World Cup next year, this tour is very important for us,” an official told TOI.

The report also adds that few of the Test players might play for India A under Rahul Dravid’s coaching. It has been learnt India A will next tour England, which will also serve a purpose for the Test players.

Players like Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja can play a couple of games for India A before the start of the Test series.

On the other side, limited overs players will continue to play the first leg of India tour of England.

Also, the tour is still a few months away, and the plans might continue to change for a while. The India tour of England starts on July 3. The three T20Is will be played on July 3, 6 and 8.

Following that, both the teams will play three ODIs on July 12, 14 and  There is a two-week gap between the last ODI and the first Test.

The Test series will start on August 1, with the first Test to be played in Birmingham. The second Test match will be played at Lord’s, London from August 9 to 13. The action will then move to Nottingham, with the game starting on August 18. Southampton will host the penultimate Test match, starting on August 30.

The tour will come to an end with the fifth game, to be played in Kennington Oval, London from September 7 too 11.

Before the start of more than two-month long tour, India will play two T20Is against Ireland on June 27 and 29.

Also, India team is scheduled to play one Test against Afghanistan from June 14 to 18.

As per the reports, Virat Kohli might be rested for that Test match.

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