Vadodara: Denied adequate preparation time in India, the West Indies would look to utilise all their resources when they take on Board President’s XI in their only warm-up match, a two-day affair, starting on Saturday, ahead of the two-Test series.
The West Indies team was initially scheduled to reach India on September 10 but landed last Wednesday ahead of their tour that includes two Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is.
The Caribbean cricketers were forced to train at the ICC Global Academy in Dubai prior to the series against India, after the BCCI expressed its inability to provide them with required facilities due to the ongoing domestic season. Their preparation not ideal, the visitors would be eyeing to get into the business straight away and use the two-day game to get acclimatised with the Indian conditions.
West Indies will begin their India tour with the first Test scheduled at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on October 4, followed by the second and final Test starting October 12 in Hyderabad.
The two Tests will be followed by five ODIs, with the first match scheduled at Guwahati on October 21.
The next three matches will be played in Indore, Pune, and Mumbai, before the fifth and final ODI in Thiruvananthapuram on November 1. The series will be capped off with three T20Is to be played in Kolkata, Lucknow, and Chennai from November 4 to 11.
The tourists will miss the services of Kemar Roach in the warm-up match as the pacer had left for Barbados following the death of his grandmother and will rejoin the squad after her funeral.
The 13-men Board President’s XI will be led by middle-order batsman Karun Nair, who was benched throughout India’s Test tour of England. (PTI)
