IND vs ENG 2021: Indian outfit begin their training sessions in Durham, India vs England Test series.
IND vs ENG 2021: Virat Kohli led team India have begun their training in Durham for the much-awaited India vs England five matches test series, BCCI shared a picture on Friday.
Barring the five isolated members of the Indian team, all other players and support staff travelled to Durham on Thursday.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant along with throwdown specialist Dayanand Garani, earlier returned positive for the delta variant of coronavirus while three others who were in contact with these two have been sent into 10 days isolation.
Ahead of the mega Test series against England, India will face a combined County XI led by Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes in a three-day warm-up match, starting July 20.
The 14-men county squad includes the likes of James Bracey and Nottinghamshire opener Haseeb Hameed, who made his test debut against India back in 2016.
The ECB stated that the county XI was picked up after consulting with the officials of all counties and are high talent players.
“The squad was selected after consulting with the first-class counties on player availability and to provide some of the high-potential talent from across the county game with the opportunity to test themselves against the ICC World Test Championship finalists,” it added.
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Indian skipper Virat Kohli, following the loss in the ICC World Test Championship final, showed his displeasure for not having access to the practice match before the inaugural WTC Final.
In the lead up to the India-England series, the BCCI and Indian skipper clearly stated the need for a practice match before taking on the specialist home side.
Well, that doesn’t depend on us. We obviously wanted a first-class match, which I believe has not been given to us. I don’t know what the reasons for that are. But yeah, other than that I think our preparation time will be ample for us to be ready for the first test match against England,” said Virat Kohli.
Combined County XI to face India:
Will Rhodes (Warwickshire – captain), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Tom Aspinwell (Lancashire), Craig Miles (Warwickshire), Ethan Bamber (Middlesex), James Rew (Somerset), James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire), Jack Carson (Sussex), Zak Chappell (Nottinghamshire), Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire), Lyndon James (Nottinghamshire), Jake Libby (Worcestershire), Rob Yates (Warwickshire).
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IND vs ENG 2021: Indian outfit begin their training sessions in Durham, India vs England Test series.