Essex vs India: Where to Watch & Live Match Streaming Details

Before the arduous Test series against England begins, Virat Kohli and his men will get a feel of what they can expect over the next one month and a half, courtesy the three-day practice game against Essex.

You can follow the live commentary on Sportskeeda here.

The game, truncated from four to three days owing to the Indian management's wish, is being played at the County Ground in Chelmsford.

The reason why India decided to reduce the game to three days was the condition of the pitch and outfield - the green pitch and the barren outfield reportedly made coach Ravi Shastri unhappy, who opined that the players could be at the risk of getting injured while diving on the rough ground.

The Indian team was also supposedly disappointed with the nature of the two side pitches. The playing surface in the nets was completely barren, as opposed to the actual pitch that is completely green.

Shastri, however, spoke out later, rubbishing claims of the outfield, explaining that the match was shortened because so that the team can travel to Birmingham a day early and get accustomed ahead of the first Test.

"We are getting in there, into the Test match venue, because it wouldn't have served the purpose here. Instead of an extra day here, I think an extra day (of training) there would be more valuable", Shastri said, according to Cricinfo.

The first Test of the series begins from August 1 in Birmingham.

India won the toss and sent Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan to face the new ball.

Teams:

India (11 Batting, 11 Fielding): Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli(c), Hardik Pandya, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Lokesh Rahul (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

Essex (11 Batting, 11 Fielding): Nick Browne, Varun Chopra, Tom Westley(c), Daniel Lawrence, Michael-Kyle Pepper, James Foster(w), Matt Coles, Paul Walter, Aaron Beard, Matthew Quinn, Rishi Patel, Matt Dixon

Squads:

India : Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karun Nair, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Lokesh Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik(w), Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma

Essex: Tom Westley(c), Aaron Beard, Nick Browne, Varun Chopra, Matt Coles, Matt Dixon, James Foster, Daniel Lawrence, Aron Nijjar, Michael-Kyle Pepper(w), Matthew Quinn, Paul Walter, Rishi Patel