The four-day warm-up game between India and Leicestershire ended in a dull draw on June 26. Apart From Shubman Gill’s half-century and Ravichandran Ashwin returning to the field, there was no other highlight of the day. The big positive was Ashwin bowling as he recently recovered from Covid-19 before flying to England.
Gill, Ashwin battle it out
Chasing a target of 367, Gill walked out to open the innings for Leicestershire with Hasan Azad. Gill batted for both Indian and Leicestershire. On Day 4, he got the much-needed practice. Earlier in the game, batting for India, he got off to good starts but could not score a half-century. Batting against Indian bowlers, he scored at a strike rate over 80 for his 62 runs off 77 balls. Gill hit eight fours and two sixes. He danced down the track and hit Ashwin for a six as well. However, Ashwin had the last laugh and got his wicket.
Later, Ashwin got the wicket of Leicestershire skipper Samuel Evans (26) as well. Like Gill, Hanuma Vihari batted for Leicestershire as well. Vihari took a cautious approach but eventually edged one off Ravindra Jadeja to wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat. Vihari scored 26 runs. Earlier, Shardul Thakur got the wicket of Azad.
Leicestershire batter's gritty knock
The only Leicestershire batter who stood up to the task was Louis Kimber. The 25-year-old batter stayed unbeaten for 58 runs off 86 deliveries and did not let Indian bowlers dominate. On the other hand, Joey Evison remained not out for 15. The Day 4 did not go on all the way to the last hour as players of both teams called it a draw. Leicestershire were 219/4 before the play was called off.
9 bowlers used in a day
Indian bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was seen leading the troops in the absence of Covid-positive Rohit Sharma. As many as nine bowlers were used in the day. Shreyas Iyer rolled his arm as well bowling medium pace.
While India faced a major blow in form of Rohit contracting the virus, the big positives from the practice match included Virat Kohli scoring a half-century and Mohammed Shami doing the damage with the new ball. On the other hand, there were a few confusing moments as well when on Day 3, Jadeja and Iyer came to bat twice in an innings.
