West Indies look to prepare for India Test series with two-day warm-up game scheduled against Board President's XI

Vadodara: Denied adequate preparation time in India, the West Indies would look to utilise all its resources when they take on Board President’s XI in their only warm-up match, a two-day affair, starting in Vadodara on Saturday, ahead of the two-Test series. The West Indies team was initially scheduled to reach India on 10 September but landed in India only last Wednesday ahead of their tour that includes two Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is. [caption id=“attachment_3091612” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of West Indies captain Jason Holder. AP[/caption] 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 full use 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 21 October. The next three matches will be played in Indore, Pune, and Mumbai, before the fifth and final ODI in Thiruvananthapuram on 1 November. The series will be capped off with three T20Is to be played in Kolkata, Lucknow, and Chennai from 4 to 11 November. 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. Besides, the BP XI will also have Hanuma Vihari, who made a fifty and a duck on debut in the fifth Test against England and Prithvi Shaw, who was also called up for the final two Tests in England but did not get a game. Prolific runner scorer in domestic cricket, Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer and Ankit Bawne will form a strong batting line-up for the home team. The bowling attack will be led by Kerala’s Basil Thampi, and will have inexperienced campaigners like Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar, Tamil Nadu pacer K Vignesh, Madhya Pradesh’s Avesh Khan, Bengal’s Ishan Porel besides all-rounder Jalaj Saxena. Teams (from): West Indies Test: Jason Holder (capt), Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Kraigg Brathwaite, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Jahmar Hamilton, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Keemo Paul, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Jomel Warrican Board President’s XI: Karun Nair (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari, Shreyas Iyer, Ankit Bawne, Ishan Kishan, Jalaj Saxena, Saurabh Kumar, Basil Thampi, Avesh Khan, K Vignesh, Ishan Porel.