Post IPL, India A to play two four-day fixtures before first Test against England | Cricket News

With the five-match Test series against England starting soon after the Indian Premier League, India players are likely to get a minimum of two practice matches before the first Test begins at Leeds on June 20. The Indian Express understands that a shadow tour of India A will begin in the first week of June with frontline India players expected to take the trip.
Post the IPL season India are set to travel to England to kick-start a new World Test Championship cycle. The five-match Test series beginning on June 20 makes it one of the earliest starts for India in the English summer with their last two Test tours mostly being played in the months of August. However, with India arriving in the early part of the English summer when the pitches will be fresh and aiding movement and on the back of a white-ball season, the India A fixtures will be their only preparation ahead of the Test series.
It is understood that India A will take on England Lions in a four-day fixture tentatively on June 4 followed an intra-squad match before the first Test. The second India A fixture against the Lions team will happen there after. While the selectors are keen to reward the consent performers in the domestic circuit, they are also in a situation where the Test regulars also need red-ball game time before the Test series. Hence the chances of all the Test regulars featuring in the first India A game is higher, particularly with regards to the batting unit.
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During the last tour to Australia, India did play a couple of India A games before the Test series. With the turnaround from IPL to red ball being short and the Test team struggling off-late, the A series and the tour games becomes all the more crucial.
The five Tests will be played at Headingley, Edgbaston, Lord’s, Old Trafford and the Oval from June 20 to August 4.