Heat wave in England forces India to curtail tour game

Indian players during a training session at the County Cricket Ground in Chelmsford yesterday. Pic/BCCI's Twitter account

The heat wave in England forced Team India to curtail their four-day practice match against county side Essex to just three days. The temperature in London for the week is expected to touch 30C. Considering the prevailing scorching conditions, the Indian team management decided that a three-day tour game would be ideal to build the players' intensity for the five-Test series, ESPNCricinfo reported yesterday.

Essex through a media release, confirmed that the current "high temperatures" was the main factor. "Essex Cricket and the England & Wales Cricket Board have today agreed, at the request of the BCCI Management Team, that the scheduled Tourist match between Essex and India will now be played over three days. "The game will now begin at 11am on each day and played under regular playing conditions; however, a full squad of players will be available for selection over the course of three days," said the county in a statement.

India's practice session lasted nearly four hours, with players arriving here in two batches. Nearly all batsmen and bowlers had rigorous workouts, with Cheteshwar Pujara, Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli also concentrating on slip fielding. Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled in tandem with Ishant Sharma, albeit with a heavily taped left thumb. Mohammed Shami also bowled a long spell in the nets.

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