The Indian men and women’s squad have left for the long tour of the UK on June 2 (Wednesday) at around 11 pm IST. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared pictures of the players readying to board the flight to England on their official Twitter account.
The men’s side will begin the tour with the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, starting June 18. This will be followed by the five-match Test series against host England.
Upon arrival in England, the Indian men’s team will proceed directly to the on-site hotel at the Hampshire Bowl, where they will be tested again before commencing a period of managed isolation, the ICC had recently informed.
On the other hand, the women’s team will begin their campaign with the one-off Test match in Bristol, starting June 16 followed by three ODIs and three T20Is. They will also have to undergo strict quarantine and regular tests throughout the tour.
In the pictures, the likes of Virat Kohli, Mithali Raj, Rohit Sharma, Jhulan Goswami, and KL Rahul are seen waiting at the airport ahead of their departure for England.
According to reports, players from both the men’s and women’s teams are pleased with families being allowed to travel with them.
#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/mhmyJFc0H8
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 2, 2021
Both teams will start equally – Virat Kohli
At a virtual press conference ahead of Team India’s departure for England, Virat Kohli asserted that his side believes they are on equal terms with New Zealand.
Some cricket experts feel New Zealand would have the edge over Team India in the WTC final as the Kiwis would have already played two Tests against England before the summit clash. Reacting to the theory, Kohli said,
“The conditions (in England) are as potent for us as New Zealand… We are going to board the flight thinking that we’re on equal terms and whichever team performs well session-by-session, hour-by-hour, is going to win that championship. It’s not the first time we are playing in England.
(With) the hunger and desire to be there… We have no problems with having just four practice sessions going into the final. For all of us this is like an accumulation of all the hard work of the last five-six years.”
