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Photos: England gear up for warm-up game
The England cricket team prepared for their warm-up match against a Hyderabad XI at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.
The tourists play two warm-up matches, the second of which is on October 11, before the first of five One-Day International matches against India on October 14.
The Alastair Cook-led side, which is camping in the city since arriving on October 4, will be eager to test the local conditions as they play their first ODI at the same venue.
Kevin Pietersen, who was rested for the ODIs series in England, will be keen to fire as he is back in the side fighting fit.
England set to play under lights and new rules
Since all the five ODIs and the lone Twenty20 international are day-night affairs, both the practice matches will be played under lights.
As the new ICC rules come into play with the India-England series, the practice matches are likely to be played under the new guidelines, which include use of two new balls in an innings, ban on runners and new powerplay over rules.
The amendments were approved by the ICC Executive Board following proposals made by the ICC Cricket Committee at its meeting in London in May. The rule with regard to two balls per innings is applicable to only ODIs.
No DRS for India-England series
The Board of Control for Cricket in India, on Friday, confirmed that the Decision Review System (DRS) will not be used for the ODI and T20 series.
The decision to not implement DRS for the five ODIs and T20 match closely follows a confirmation from Warren Brennan, the chief executive of the company behind the technology (BBG Sports), that Hot Spot will not be used in the series.
- No DRS
The BCCI has had reservations about Hot Spot and DRS before although it has previously clarified favouring the use of technology. The ongoing tour, however, will not have the referral system and the decision of the on-field umpires will have to be relied on.
England to make do with weak opposition
England will have to be content to play against a weak local team in the practice match since the top players are either playing the Champions League Twenty20 or busy preparing for the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy, beginning at Nagpur on October 10.
Hyderabad XI, which had a poor 2010-11 Ranji Trophy season, have only a couple of players with some international exposure.
England's young One-Day International team is looking to follow up on the 3-0 home win over the World champions.