COVID-19 Like Protocols To Be Applied To India Senior Team's Warm-up Game Against Their A Side On England Tour: Reports

After the culmination of the eighteenth edition of the Indian Premier League, the Indian Test team will fly to England to play a five-match Test series. The series will mark the start of Team India's World Test Championship (WTC) 2027 cycle.

Despite India winning the Champions Trophy before the start of the IPL , there are still question marks over their skills in playing red-ball cricket. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has yet to announce the central contracts for the 2025-26 season, and there are big question marks over the future of Rohit Sharma , both as a player and as a captain.

India conceded the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series to Australia earlier this year. India's loss to the Aussies also saw them crash out of the WTC 2025 final, a spot that they were almost guaranteed to secure. The problems for the Test team started after they lost a three-match home series to New Zealand, which severely dented their hopes of playing the WTC 2025 Final.

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India's Senior Team to Play Against A Side Behind Closed Doors

It has repeatedly been reported that a few members of the Indian Test team will travel to England much ahead of the start of the series. It was also reported that the senior members of the team might play practice matches in order to prepare themselves for the England tour.

As per a report in Cricbuzz, the Indian senior team will play a warm-up match against the A team, and it will be played behind closed doors. The concept of games being played behind closed doors and without any crowd became popular during 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic struck. The match will also be played without the presence of a camera unit.

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India vs England Series to Kick Off in June

The India vs England Test series will be played 25 days after the culmination of IPL 2025. The first match of the series will be played on June 20, 2025, at Headingley Stadium.

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