The Indian Test unit has been given an opportunity to finally play some red-ball cricket prior to the Test series against hosts England. The Virat Kohli led side will be using the riverside ground in Durham as their home ground base and would play a three-day first-class game against a select County XI starting July 20.
"The three-day game will see a number of players from the county circuit feature as they go up against the Indian national side," Durham cricket said in a press release. It also confirmed that the match would be streamed Live on Durham Cricket's YouTube channel. The match would be played behind closed doors.
Earlier, post the WTC Final loss, Indian skipper Kohli had said that they would have dearly liked a First-Class game as preparation before the Test series against England.
"We obviously wanted first-class games, which I believe have not been given to us. I don't know what the reasons for that are. But yeah, other than that, I think our preparation time will be ample for us to be ready for the first Test,” Kohli had said.
Right now, the Indian team is on a break in England and while some players enjoyed Wimbledon and Euro Cup Final, Ravichandran Ashwin played a County game for Surrey and also picked a six-wicket haul in the second innings.