India will open their World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-2027 campaign with a daunting five-Test tour of England. The Rohit Sharma-led side failed to qualify for the WTC 2023-25 final after losing to New Zealand and Australia in back-to-back series.
The England series is crucial, not just from the WTC perspective, but it could be make or break for many senior players who will be fighting to save their Test careers. The likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma came under severe scrutiny after the BGT debacle, and a bad outing in England could mark an end to their red-ball careers.
Ahead of the marquee tour, India have also reportedly decided against playing warm-up matches against county teams. They will instead play an intra-squad game against India A, Cricbuzz reported. The match will be played behind closed doors at the Beckenham, a facility managed by Kent County Cricket Club.
While discussions were held about broadcasting the intra-squad match, the report suggests that the team management ultimately decided against it. The Indian side prefers to keep the fixture away from the cameras, ensuring an uninterrupted and focused build-up to the series.
This encounter, slated for around June 13, will be the only warm-up game before the highly-anticipated series begins at Headingley from June 20.
Indian players are likely to arrive in England in the second week of June, though some may travel earlier depending on their IPL commitments. In the past, certain senior players have chosen to get acclimatized ahead of time, but as of now, no official confirmation has been provided regarding individual travel plans, the report stated.
Meanwhile, the India A team will fly to England to play two four-day games against England Lions before facing India’s senior team in the intra-squad fixture.
India have not won a Test series on English soil since 2007. They came close to beating England in the 2021-2022 series when they took a 2-1 lead, but suffered a defeat in the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston to see the series ending in a draw.
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
