The BCCI is organizing three four-day matches for India A against the Lions before the Tests in England
The Indian national cricket team is all set to take on the England Lions in three four-day matches ahead of the Test series against the England national cricket team, according to a report in ESPNCricinfo.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organized these games to ensure that the players get used to the English conditions and prepare well for the Test matches.
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India and England clash in 5 test matches
The Indian national cricket team will face the England national cricket team in a five-match Test series in June, July and August 2025.
The opening match of the Test series is scheduled to begin on June 20 at Headingley, Leeds, with Edgbaston in Birmingham hosting the second leg from July 2.
From July 10, the third Test match will begin at the legendary Lord’s Cricket Ground in London and the fourth match will be played at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester from July 23. The fifth and final Test match of the series will begin on July 31 at the Kennington Oval in London.
The Indian players will get 3 four-day matches before the Test in England
Team India players, who would like to strengthen their case for selection or regain form, will get a chance to do so in three four-day matches against the England Lions between the end of the IPL on May 25 and the start of the Tests.
The recent performances of the Indian batsmen have been extremely poor and they have failed miserably in the last three Test series – against the Bangladesh National Cricket Team and the New Zealand National Cricket Team at home, and against the Australian National Cricket Team Down Under.
A poor batting performance left the team facing an 0-3 record at home against the Black Caps and they also lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade. With this, they were also eliminated from the race for the final of the World Test Championship for the first time in history.
There is no confirmation that Rohit Sharma has been given a chance to play the Test series against England after his horror show in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which forced him to sit out the Sydney Test. Things have not been good for Virat Kohli, who averages 30.72 since 2020.
Meanwhile, there is doubt over England Lions’ quality for the matches as the top cricketers might be busy in the T20 Blast. However, the BCCI is confident that the ECB will retaliate in kind after the Lions received strong opposition on their shadow tour alongside the 2023-24 Test tour of India, ESPNCricinfo reported. Reportedly, the BCCI arranged these matches to give the batsmen a chance to present their case for selection.
Sitanshu Kotak has been appointed as India’s batting coach
Another step taken by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to end the batting woes was the appointment of a new batting coach, Sitanshu Kotak.
According to a report in TOI, Sitanshu Kotak has been added to the Gautam Gambhir-led support staff as the batting coach. He will begin his stint with a home series against England that includes five T20Is and three ODIs.
Reportedly, it was Gautam Gambhir who requested the BCCI to add a batting coach in a review meeting after the BGT disaster and the officials complied with his request.
“Coach Gambhir asked for a batting coach during the review. Discussions are on since then and now Kotak will be added to the support staff,” said a senior BCCI official who was part of the meeting, as quoted by TOI.
“Most of our batsmen [batters]including the seniors, they have really struggled in the last two series. There is clearly a need to strengthen the support staff of the Indian men’s cricket team from a batsman’s point of view,” said a reliable source.
