As England mourns the passing away of its longest-reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II, sporting events in the country have been suspended as a mark of respect. Among the few events that haven’t been impacted includes Indian women cricket team’s T20I series against England that is slated to begin from today in Chester-le-Street.
However, according to a report in The Indian Express, the series is expected to be a ‘low-key affair’ in light of the Queen’s death. The Indian cricket team has also been advises against playing music in their dressing room and the BCCI flag at the venue will be at half-mast.
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No restrictions have been placed on the on-field celebrations but no commercial activity will be allowed inside the venue. Even as the women’s international contest will go ahead as planned, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) did suspend the second day’s play of the third and final Test with South Africa.
India will face England in a three-match T20I series starting September 10 with the second to be played on September 13 and the third on September 14.
It will be followed by a three-match ODI series with the matches to be played on September 18, September 21 and September 24.
The opening day of the series decider was already washed out by rain and with another day’s play being called off, the ECB proposed to extending the Test by a day to make up for the suspension. However, Cricket South Africa rejected it by citing busy schedule.
The English Premier League weekend fixtures, European Tour golf and Tour of Britain (Cycling) are among the high-profile sporting events that have been suspended.
On Thursday, allrounder Nat Sciver was ruled out of the series due to a hip injury but India captain Harmanpreet Kaur cautioned against taking England lightly despite her absence.
“I know England will be missing her (Nat Sciver), but I think they are still a very good side. We still need to play well to defeat them. The last 10 days, it has given us enough time to prepare ourselves and we are looking in good shape. It’s now just the time to go there and execute the plans,” she said.
“Whoever is playing, it is very important to stay in the moment and take the right decisions and take calculated risks. Those things will matter rather than who’s playing against you. If you play good cricket, you will definitely get good results,” she added.
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