Team India, under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, is all set to take on hosts England in the one-off Test match at Edgbaston, Birmingham on July 1 however, ahead of that, the touring party will lock horns with Leicestershire in a four-day warm-up match beginning on Thursday.
The warm-up game against Leicestershire will be an opportunity for the visitors to acclimatize themselves in the new condition after a long time for the crucial Test as it is the series decider of the five-Test series, which was delayed last year due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.
Notably, India is leading the series 2-1.
Meanwhile, star India players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna will turn up for rival Leicestershire County Cricket Club (LCCC) and will play under county captain Sam Evans in the warm-up game against India.
Issuing a statement, the England club said: “India superstars Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna will all team up with the Leicestershire squad, captained by opening batsman Sam Evans.”
“LCCC, BCCI and the ECB have all agreed to allow the four players from the visiting camp to be part of the Running Foxes side, in order to allow all members of the travelling party to participate in the fixture (subject to fitness). The match will be played with 13 players per side to provide further flexibility and help manage bowling workloads,” it added.
“India arrived in Leicestershire on Sunday, before they undertook their first training and net session at Uptonsteel County Ground on Monday morning,” the England cub statement further said adding: “The world’s second-best Test ranked side have trained for three days ahead of tomorrow’s four-day fixture against the Running Foxes, which proceeds the rescheduled Fifth Test against England at Edgbaston at the start of July.”
SQUAD
India: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav.
Leicestershire CCC: Sam Evans (Capt), Rehan Ahmed, Sam Bates (wk), Nat Bowley, Will Davis, Joey Evison, Louis Kimber, Abi Sakande, Roman Walker, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna.