India shorten practice match citing heatwave in England

India's four-day practice match against county side Essex was reduced to three days due to the prevalent "heatwave" in England, with the visiting side claiming that the curtailed game will give them an extra day to rest and recover ahead of the Test series starting August 1.

After some speculation over the reasons of shortening the match, given that the outfield was devoid of grass and the Indian support staff was seen having elaborate discussions with the ground staff after getting a glimpse of the green wicket for the match, it was stated that heat is the reason.

An Essex county representative maintained that the Indian team "was happy with practice facilities".

When asked about the rugged outfield, and whether that could have been a reason to reduce the game, the representative declined to comment any further.

"Essex Cricket and the England & Wales Cricket Board have today agreed, at the request of the BCCI Management Team, that the scheduled Tourist match between Essex and India will now be played over three days," the county said in a statement.

The Indian team management took this decision during this afternoon's net practice after having a look at the pitch. Indian coach Ravi Shastri was seen having an animated discussion with the local officials.

The rest of the Indian support staff, including assistant coach Sanjay Bangar and bowling coach Bharat Arun, also took stock of the conditions and were seen having discussions with the ground staff.

Given that it is not a classified first-class match, it is confirmed that the Indian team will be using all 18 members of their Test squad.

A senior member of the ground staff spoke with PTI at the end of it all on condition of anonymity and said that "all requests of the Indian team management have been accepted".

When pressed if that included "shaving off the grass", he simply said, "We have bent over backwards to accommodate the Indian team management's demands. It is disappointing though because we had sold a lot of tickets for the fourth day (Saturday)."