The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), on Friday, confirmed that Team India is set to play two T20 warm-up games against Derbyshire and Northamptonshire on their tour of England later this year.
The first T20I will be an evening fixture to be played at the Incora County Ground in Derby on July 01. Similarly, the second match will be a day game hosted by the County Ground in Northampton on July 03.
“India will travel to The Incora County Ground to face Derbyshire in a Twenty20 Tour Fixture on Friday, July 1 (7 pm start). The number-one ranked T20 side in the world will continue their ICC Twenty20 World Cup preparations against a Derbyshire side,” Derbyshire announced on its website.
“Northamptonshire will welcome India to Wantage Road this summer for a one-off T20 tour match,” Northamptonshire wrote.
However, both the warm-up matches will be clashing with India’s rescheduled fifth Test against England, which is expected to be played at Edgbaston from July 1 to 5. The final Test, which was supposed to be held at Old Trafford in Manchester, was postponed over Covid-19 fears and rearranged to be staged on India’s limited-overs tour to the United Kingdom this summer.
Notably, India led the series 2-1 until the fourth Test of the incomplete tour last year. The Rohit Sharma-led side will be playing three T20Is and ODIs each in England this year, with the first T20I taking place at Southampton on July 7, before the action moves to Edgbaston and Trent Bridge for the next two games.
Likewise, the three-match ODI series opener is set to begin on July 12 at The Oval, while the remaining two matches will be hosted by Lord’s in London on July 14 and Manchester’s Emirates Old Trafford on July 17.
