India vs England | Poor turnout expected for first Test owing to a Wednesday start

The crowd turnout for the limited-overs leg of India’s tour of England showed contrasting figures with grounds being filled up. India won the three-match T20I series (2-1), much to the pleasure of the Indian fans. On the other hand, the three-match ODI series saw a fighting comeback by the home team to win the series 2-1.

However, according to the club officials, the ticket sales for England’s 1,000th Test match did not live up to the expectations. They mentioned that a similar situation could also affect the third Test match later on (Days 3, 4 and 5) due to a Saturday start.

The Indian team had cut short their practice game against Essex to a three-day encounter as they had to travel to Birmingham to prepare for the first Test match. Nearly 2,000 tickets were refunded, much to the disappointment of the spectators.

India’s vice-captain, Ajinkya Rahane was bullish about their build-up and felt that the team’s positive mindset would help them prevail in the Test series. As a result, Rahane claimed that the form of their star batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara did not concern them. Dhawan registered a pair in the warm-up game while Pujara just managed to score 24 runs in the two innings post his unforgettable county season for Yorkshire.

“We are not worried about them (Dhawan and Pujara) as both are quality batsmen. It just takes one good inning to get that form back. We have had decent practice be it the warm-up game at Chelmsford or the net sessions. We are ready and not it is all about the positive mindset that will help us prevail. In terms of skill the teams are on par,” the vice-captain said.

Considering the injuries of India’s frontline pace bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, India had to make changes in the squad. However, Rahane felt the current attack (Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, and Umesh Yadav) could disrupt any batting line.

“We have a great bowling attack and they can disrupt opponents. They just have to back themselves,” Rahane added.