India will only be playing a single warm-up match before their five-Test series against England, following their Australia tour preparation strategy. Here this time, though, the build-up to the series will include an actual four-day intra-squad encounter instead of a match simulation. The match, which will be played in Beckenham in Kent, will get underway on Friday with the senior team up against India A.
The head coach Gautam Gambhir has been adamant about keeping the proceedings under wraps, much like they were done during the Perth camp in November last year. There, the planned warm-up game was substituted with simulation drills, and the WACA authorities had been asked by the BCCI to have training sessions and practice games off-limits to spectators. Gambhir is said to have insisted on a similar procedure this time, with the intra-squad game also likely to be played behind closed doors, according to PTI.
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This is “to prevent the opposition from getting any ideas on the tactical front, emulating a long-established practice among European football clubs.”
The next 360-over match will prove to be valuable match practice, especially in determining whether the bowling unit is ready and gaining insight into the probable batting order, particularly after the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
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All will be waiting to see how Jasprit Bumrah, the left-arm seamer who will be playing first-class cricket for the first time in six months, performs. The warm-up game is an opportunity for him to bowl long spells and test his fitness before the series.
