Team India's confirmed cricket matches in 2021

After the suspension of the 2021 Indian Premier League due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus now shifts to Team India’s international assignments. Virat Kohli and Co would be heading to the United Kingdom for the World Test Championship final and a five-match Test series against England.

Other series like India’s tour of South Africa and New Zealand’s tour of India are also in the pipeline, but they are yet to be confirmed. The T20 World Cup in India is scheduled to be played in October-November, though there are clouds of uncertainty over the tournament due to the present scenario.

In the meantime, India’s WTC final against New Zealand gets underway on June 18. Kohli’s men made the cut after beating Australia and England earlier this year. Their bilateral series against the Three Lions gets underway on August 4 and ends with the final Test, starting September 10.

Here’s Team India’s confirmed schedule in 2021:

June 18-22 World Test Championship final: India vs New Zealand, Rose Bowl, Southampton

August 4th-8th: 1st England vs. India Test, Trent Bridge, Nottingham

August 12th-16th: 2nd England vs. India Test, Lord’s, London

August 25th-29th: 3rd England vs. India Test, Headingly, Leeds

September 2nd-6th: 4th England vs. India Test, Kennington Oval, London

September 10th-14th: 5th England vs. India, Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester

On Friday, May 7, the Board of Control for Cricket in India named the squad for India’s campaign in the United Kingdom. Prithvi Shaw, who was left out midway through the Australia tour last December, couldn’t make his way back into the squad. KL Rahul and Wriddhiman Saha were picked but on conditions of fitness.

Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Arzan Nagwaswalla are the newcomers. Among them, Krishna already made his ODI debut against England earlier this year.

India’s squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).

Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla