India vs England 2021: ECB give in to BCCI request, warm-up game scheduled ahead of 1st Test

The Indians looked under-cooked during the Word Test Championship final against New Zealand after playing just one intra-squad game in the build-up which many experts like Sunil Gavaskar and Alastair Cook felt was not enough before a high-intensity game. As a result, BCCI asked ECB for warm-up games ahead of Test series.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is working on COVID-19 protocols to organise a warm-up game for the touring Indian team against 'Combined Counties' side in the third week of July as a tune-up for the first Test in Nottingham starting August 4. The three-day match, which might be accorded first-class status, will pit the Indian team against a ‘Select County XI’ which in earlier times was known as ‘Combined Counties’. The tentative date could be between July 20-22. “We are aware of a request from the BCCI to play a three-day warm-up match against a County Select XI as part of the Indian Men’s Test teams build-up to the five-match LV-Insurance Test series,” an ECB spokesperson told news agency PTI. “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 15 July and will prepare at the venue until 1 August before heading to Trent Bridge, Nottingham ahead of the first Test starting on 4 August,” the spokesperson added.