IND vs ENG 2021: ECB announces 14-man County XI squad to take on India next week
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced a 14-member squad to take on Virat Kohli's India for a practice match, starting on July 20.
Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes will lead the County Select XI in the match. The squad includes familiar names such as recent Test debutant James Bracey and opener Haseeb Hameed, who played his first Test against India in 2016. Warwickshire's Rob Yates and Middlesex's Ethan Bamber will be among the young batsmen to watch out for as well.
Young Lions head coach Richard Dawson will oversee the game for the hosts. The three-day game will be hosted by Durham's Riverside Ground and will involve 90 overs of play on each day. It will be played behind closed doors but the game will be broadcast live on Durham Cricket's YouTube channel.
The Indian players, sans wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who tested positive for COVID-19 eight days ago, have already left for Durham. Also left behind are training assistant Dayanand Garani, who became the second member to test positive for the virus, and his close contacts. These include gloveman Wriddhiman Saha, bowling coach Bharat Arun and standby batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Pant is self-quarantining while the other four members will isolate for ten days at a hotel in London. Interestingly, if Pant doesn't return two negative tests by the time of the practice match, India might have to go with KL Rahul as the first-choice wicketkeeper with Saha also in isolation.
All Durham-bound players are coming off a three-day break and will look to regain fitness and form ahead of the practice match. India's five-Test series on English soil will kick off on August 4 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham and will go on until September 14.
Full squad for County Select XI for its match against India
County Select XI squad: Will Rhodes (Warwickshire - captain), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Tom Aspinwell (Lancashire), Ethan Bamber (Middlesex), James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Jack Carson (Sussex), Zak Chappell (Nottinghamshire), Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire), Lyndon James (Nottinghamshire), Jake Libby (Worcestershire), Craig Miles (Warwickshire), Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire), James Rew (Somerset), Rob Yates (Warwickshire).