India TOUR of England: BCCI requests England Cricket Board to arrange for warm up match before Birmingham Test: Check DETAILS

“Yes, we are in talks with the ECB to arrange a warm-up match before the 5th Test. We are hopeful of that but nothing has been finalised as yet. That is one reason why the team is being sent early,” a senior BCCI official told InsideSport.

India TOUR of England: BCCI requests England Cricket Board to arrange for warm up match before Birmingham Test: Check DETAILS

The reason why the ECB still hasn’t officially confirmed one is because of the Vitality Blast and County Championship. The Rohit Sharma-led India team will leave for England on June 15 when the Vitality Blast is in full swing.

During the break from T20 Blast, the County Championship Divison One will be back in action. That is the reason why ECB is yet to officially confirm the warm-up match. However, as per information available with InsideSport, Team India will get a warm-up match like last time — County XI.

India TOUR of England: BCCI requests England Cricket Board to arrange for warm up match before Birmingham Test: Check DETAILS

India Tour of England Schedule:

• Four-Day Warm-up match vs Select County XI – Date TBA
• India A vs Derbyshire T20: July 1
• India vs England 5th Test – July 1-5 @ Birmingham
• India A vs Northamptonshire: July 3
• IND vs ENG 1st T20: July 7 @ Southampton
• IND vs ENG 2nd T20: July 9 @ Birmingham
• IND vs ENG 3rd T20: July 10 @ Nottingham
• IND vs ENG 1st ODI: July 12 @ Kennington Oval
• IND vs ENG 2nd ODI: July 14 @ Lord’s
• IND vs ENG 3rd ODI: July 17 @ Manchester

India TOUR of England: BCCI requests England Cricket Board to arrange for warm up match before Birmingham Test: Check DETAILS

India TOUR of England: BCCI requests England Cricket Board to arrange for warm up match before Birmingham Test: Check DETAILS

India Tour of England: Why is ECB yet to confirm warm-up match?

• During India’s tour, the County Championship will go on full-fledged.
• England will also face the Netherlands in between Test series against New Zealand.
• Besides County Championships, the T20 Blast will be on.
• BCCI requested a strong County side for a warm-up.
• The last time ECB arranged a warm-up match, they failed to put up 11 players and Washington Sundar and Avesh Khan had to turn up for the Select County XI.
• The BCCI wants to avoid that.

India TOUR of England: BCCI requests England Cricket Board to arrange for warm up match before Birmingham Test: Check DETAILS

Furthermore, with England busy playing New Zealand at home, it is unlikely that any top player will be available for the warm-up match. India are also supposed to play two T20 warm-up matches on July 1 and 3. While the ECB confirmed that last month, BCCI is tight-lipped on the schedule.

It has been learnt that India will carry a larger squad for the England tour. While the same squad for South Africa will be touring Ireland for two-match T20 Series, some of them will join the rest of the squad in England.

The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will join the white-ball squad in England. The squad for all three tours will be picked on May 23 and an announcement will be made during the IPL 2022 Playoffs.

India TOUR of England: BCCI requests England Cricket Board to arrange for warm up match before Birmingham Test: Check DETAILS

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