Ahead of the fifth scheduled Test match against England on July 1, team India will lock horns with Leicestershire in a four-day warm-up match beginning on Thursday. The rescheduled match is a part of last year's five-match Test series that had to be delayed after the fourth Test due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp. The warm-up fixture will be an opportunity for the Men in Blue to get into cement themselves in the new condition after a long time for the all-important fifth Test. The series is in favour of the visitors, who are leading 2-1 after defeating the hosts in the fourth Test at the Oval last year by 157 runs.
Meanwhile, star players of the Indian team Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna have been added to the rival Leicestershire County Cricket Club (LCCC) squad. They will play under county captain Sam Evans.
“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,” the England club said in a statement.
“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.”
Captain Rohit Sharma will be leading India for their warm-up match against Leicestershire as well as in rescheduled Test match against England, starting on July 1 at Edgbaston.
“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 added.
“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.”
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.
With ANI inputs