India vs India A intra-squad match live streaming: BCCI bans media and broadcasters; here's why
There is no live streaming of the India vs India A intra-squad match as BCCI decided to bar media personnel and broadcasters from the unofficial practice match.
Where will the India vs India A intrasquad match, set to take place in Kent between June 13 and June 16, be streamed live? It was one of the most searched sports queries on Thursday night and Friday morning in India. The interest around the intra-squad match is massive because it is their only preparatory game before the five-match Test series against England that starts June 20 at Leeds. The chatter for a live streaming of the warm-up match gained momentum because the previous two red-ball games between India A and England Lions were streamed live on JioHotstar.
Unfortunately, that will not be the case this time around. To cut the excitement of the fans short, there is no live streaming of the India vs India A intra-squad match as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian team management in England decided to bar media personnel and broadcasters from the unofficial practice match, making it a closed-door affair.
"June13-16: Closed Intra squad game. No vision access to Media/Broadcast. On the final day of the squad game, a player/member of support staff will be made available to the media," BCCI said in a statement.
Closed-door practices are nothing out of the ordinary. They happen in every sport. In fact, the current Indian team management is quite habituated to them. During the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year in Australia, Team India held a couple of closed-door practice sessions before the start of the series.
Why did BCCI not allow live streaming of India vs India A intra-squad game?
The India vs India A intra-squad four-day red-ball practice game does not have first-class status. Considering this is the only opportunity for all the members to train in a match-like situation before the Test series, they decided to keep it away from the preying eyes of the fans and media. It can be debated whether it was the right call or not, but the Indian team is well within its right to practice behind closed doors.
There are eight players in the India A squad, which played against England Lions in the second practice match, who are part of the main India Test squad. One of the most prominent ones among them is star batter KL Rahul, who scored a century against England Lions. Apart from Rahul, thee is comeback men Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur, opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, all-rounder Nitish Kumar, keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, backup opener Abhimanyu Easwaran and pacer Akash Deep.
It was not yet finalised whether these players would play for India A or India. As it is not an official match, it is likely that the players will keep swapping positions to achieve the maximum outcome.
Earlier, there were reports that India's head coach, Gautam Gambhir, wanted the Kent curator to prepare a Test match-like pitch, which would have true carry and offer a bit to every discipline.
India A Squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (vice-captain/wicket-keeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harsh Dubey
India Test Squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper/vice captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav
