India tour to England – ICC WTC Finals: For the first time in Indian cricket history, the men’s and women’s cricket team will be travelling together in the same chartered flight. While Virat Kohli and boys will be flying to the UK for the World Test Championship from June 18, Mithali Raj and women will be playing three ODIs and as many T20Is against England. The Indian contingent will leave on June 2 from Mumbai.
“We have been asked to gather on May 19. After the hard quarantine, we will fly to England in June,” one of the players travelling with the women’s team told InsideSport.
Upon arrival, both the teams will be in week-long isolation before they start training.
India tour to England – ICC WTC Finals: BCCI’s thorough preparation for UK-bound contingent
BCCI has been meticulous in their preparations ahead of the key events. The Indian board arranged doorstep Covid-19 test for all the players in the squad including the standby players and their family members, who will accompany them, before joining BCCI’s bio-bubble in Mumbai.
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However, players who live in Mumbai like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane amongst others, will be given a one-week exemption provided they strictly follow the one-week isolation at home and don’t step out. BCCI has also asked players to get the Covishield vaccine instead of the Covaxin, as the former being a UK-based product will be easily available in the UK. The majority of players have taken the first jab.
ICC WTC Final: India to face New Zealand in Southampton, followed by Test series against Joe Root’s Three Lions
The Men in Blue are going for a long three-month tour and hence BCCI picked a 24-member squad for it. Team India’s first stop will be in Southampton where they play New Zealand to decide the first champion of the Test format. It will be followed by a five-Test series from August 4.
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India’s squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).
India tour to England, Eng-W vs Ind -W: Ramesh Powar’s first assignment as Women’s team head coach begins from June 16
Powar’s mentorship will be in the spotlight when Mithali Raj and Co take on Heather Knight’s side in a one-off Test match, three ODIs and three T20s. Veteran Indian batter Raj will lead the Test and 50-over squad while Harmanpreet Kaur will don the captain’s hat in T20Is.
The One-off Test kickstarts on June 16 in Bristol followed by a 3-match ODI series which starts from June 27. The first encounter is scheduled to be played at the same venue while the remaining two matches will be played on June 30th and July 3rd in Taunton and Worcester respectively.
Teen batting sensation Shafali Verma and seasoned pacer Shikha Pandey have made it to all three squads after their South Africa home series snubs.
Here is the squad for the one-off Test and 3-match ODI series:
India’s Senior Women squad for Test & ODI:
Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav.
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