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Australia, South Africa and New Zealand will play two practice matches each against the Indian West Zone sides in Mumbai before the ICC Champions Trophy.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) executive secretary Prof Ratnakar Shetty said these three teams would play a match each against Mumbai, while the other match would be against a team from this Zone.

He said exact dates of matches were still being worked out and would be known in a day or two. Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, who have gained a straight entry into next month’s ICC Champions Trophy without having to play in the qualifiers, start their campaign in second week of October after the qualifiers which begin on October 7. The ICC Champions Trophy final will be held at Brabourne stadium here on November 5.

Meanwhile, six teams seeded into main draw of the Champions Trophy would meet in Delhi on October 8 for a briefing with match referee on security matters and all others connected with the championship.

The qualifiers would be held from October 7-14 with West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe taking part in them, while tournament proper will begin on October 15 and go till November 6. Two teams from qualifiers would join India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and England into tournament proper.
Source:The News