India to play two warm-up games ahead of England tour in July

In the latest development, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team will play a first-class fixture against the Leicestershire County Cricket Club prior to their one-off Test at Birmingham in July.

According to a report published in Cricbuzz, the tourists are likely to touch down in the United Kingdom around June 16.

The one-off Test, which is the fifth Test of the Pataudi Trophy from last year, is set to take place at the iconic Edgbaston Cricket Ground between July 01-05.

Prior to that, as per the information received from the England and Wales Cricket Board, the Indian red-ball contingent will lock horns with Leicestershire in a four-day First-Class fixture.

The game will take place between June 24-27.

Interestingly, around the same time, the Indian white-ball contingent will be in Ireland to play a couple of T20Is in Dublin on June 26 and 28.

Following the culmination of the Test match in Birmingham, India will lock horns with Eoin Morgan's England in three One-day Internationals and as many T20Is between July 07-17.

To prepare for the warm-up for the aforementioned series, the white-ball set-up will play a couple of practice games against Derbyshire and Northamptonshire on July 01 and 3.

The Test match between these two sides was scheduled to take place last summer, but it was eventually postponed on the morning of the game following the proliferation of Covid in the Indian camp.

India won the Lord's and Oval Test comprehensively, while England did the same at Headingley.

Lot has changed since these two sides locked horns last summer. Back then, India were led by the captain-coach duo of Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri. Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid have now replaced the duo.

Similarly, England have undergone a complete overhaul in its leadership group following a horrendous last 12-13 months, which saw them win just 1 out of their last 17 Tests.