Report : India’s practice game against Essex reduced owing to poor playing conditions

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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The Indian cricket team’s four-dayer against Essex County Cricket Club has been shortened to three days because of the heat wave and the harsh playing conditions. The team does not want to take a risk of injuring the players before the important Test series against England starting in August.

The team management took this decision during yesterday’s (July 24) net practice session after having a look at the outfield and the pitch. Though there was no official statement on the reason behind shortening the match, India’s head coach, Ravi Shastri was seen having an active conversation with the local officials after inspecting the grassy pitch and the outfield.

Sports Journalist, Chetan Narula tweeted about the practice game getting shortened to a three-day encounter from Wednesday to Friday (instead of Saturday). He stated that the Indian team would like to reach Birmingham early so as to prepare well for the first Test. He felt that the conditions would not be ideal for the players to play a four-day game and risking their fitness before the series will not be a good option.

Narula further tweeted the statement from Essex cricket revealing the refund of fourth day’s (Saturday) tickets to the respective spectators.

Considering the match against Essex as a warm-up before the series, a senior member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed the participation of all the 18 members of the Test squad. Speaking about the fulfillment of the team’s demands he said that they have been more than helpful. He also expressed his disappointment about the cancellation of one day’s play pointing towards the number of tickets they had sold.

“We accepted all the requests that the Indian team made. We have bent over backwards to fulfill their demands. It is disappointing though because we had sold a lot of tickets for the fourth day,” the official was quoted as saying by PTI.

The appearance of the Oval county ground was strange by the fact that the outfield looked barren and devoid of any grass. It looked rugged with only a few patches of green. India’s practice session lasted for four hours and the players came in two batches. Nearly all the batsmen and bowlers had rigorous workouts.

With the conditions for the warm-up game turning out to be completely different (from what will be offered during the official Test matches), it remains to be seen how the Indian Team management goes about things over the next three days.

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