India warm-up match start date: India to face County Championship XI for practice match in Durham

India warm-up match start date: The Indian Test team is all set to play a three-day match before the first Test at Trent Bridge.

The Indian Test team will face a County Championship XI in a three-day warm-up match before their first Test against England from August 4 at Trent Bridge.

India, who will reassemble after a break in England in Durham today, will use the Riverside Ground as a home venue for the match which will comprise of players from multiple counties forming one opposition.

After captain Virat Kohli addressing the lack of a practice match before the ICC World Test Championship final last month, there were reports of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) writing to ECB (England Cricket Board) regarding arranging a warm-up match before the five-match Test series.

Given how England’s international and domestic players are occupied with international cricket, County Championship 2021, T20 Blast 2021 and The Hundred, arranging for a warm-up match amidst COVID-19 scare is no mean task.

India warm-up match start date vs County Championship XI

Readers must note that the three-day match will be played between July 20-22 and is likely to be given the status of a first-class match. As far as allowing spectators inside the venue is concerned, the match will be played “strictly behind closed doors.”.

A development which will be cherished by the Indian fans is that this warm-up match will be streamed live through multi-camera coverage on Durham Cricket’s YouTube channel.

See you at Emirates Riverside soon, @imVkohli 👋#TeamIndia #India @BCCI 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/Zz5SLpVsUM

— Durham Cricket (@DurhamCricket) July 14, 2021

“The club working in partnership with 5 live, will bring live coverage with BBC journalists Kevin Howells and Mark Church along with former Indian first class cricketer Abhishek Jhunjhunwala joining the commentary team,” Durham Cricket said in a statement.

It is worth mentioning that spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is the only Indian player to play a competitive match since the WTC Final. Making his county debut for Surrey most recently, Ashwin picked impressive match figures of 58-13-126-7 at The Oval.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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