India A will tour England for a two-match series against England Lions ahead of the Test series between the senior teams. The series will take place just after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League and will finish before the Test series.
The series will be significant for the tourists as it will determine their selection of Playing XI for the first Test. The two-match unofficial series will also act as a practice for the Indian players ahead of a long England tour.
Schedule for India A’s tour of England
According to RevSportz, India A will tour England just after the IPL 2025 final. The first match of the unofficial series will be played from May 30. It will be played at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury.
Meanwhile, the second match of the series will be played from June 6 at the County Ground, Northampton. The series will end on June 9, which is 11 days before the first Test begins between these two cricketing powerhouses.
The series will be key to the Men in Blue who will be touring England after a long time. The players will be aiming to acclimatize to the conditions before the highly important Test series.
ENG vs IND Test series schedule
The first Test of the series will be played from June 20 at Leeds, Headingley. The teams then move to Birmingham to play the second Test. The iconic stadium of Lord’s will host the third Test of the series from July 10.
The fourth Test will be played at Old Trafford, Manchester from Jul 23 while the fifth and final game will be played a the Oval from July 31. It will be a thrilling series between these two sides and both the teams will be looking to start on a high.
The series will also mark the beginning of a new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle for both teams. Both of them were unable to qualify for the final in the last cycle and will be aiming for a fresh start here.
Gautam Gambhir to travel with the team
According to TOI, head coach Gautam Gambhhr will travel to England with the A team to get a clear picture of the reserve pool in the red-ball format. The series will be important as India is going through a transitional phase in red-ball cricket.
Gambhir’s tenure as the head coach hasn’t been great in Test cricket so far. The Men in Blue suffered a humiliating Test series defeat to New Zealand in a home series which also ended their proud record at home in Tests.
The team also lost to Australia in the Test series later, and thus, lost their grip on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. There are a no. of questions over the team’s future in Test cricket which makes the upcoming series an important one for them.
