Leicester: Opener Shubman Gill hit a scintillating half-century while Ravichandran Ashwin took two wickets after making his first appearance in the game after recovering from a COVID-19 infection as India’s warm-up against Leicestershire The match ended in a draw here on Sunday. At least five Indians turned up for both the teams during the four-day warm-up match as the guests prepared to finalize their preparations for the rescheduled fifth Test against England, starting July 1 in Birmingham.
This was a must for Ashwin, who had traveled to England of late after testing positive for the virus. He bowled 11 overs and took two wickets for 31 runs. Leading fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah India The fourth and final day in the country followed the news of their captain Rohit Sharma testing positive for COVID-19, which put his participation in the one-off Test in serious doubt.
If he misses, Gill will have to take the responsibility of giving India a good start and the Punjab batsman, who was earlier dismissed for 21 and 38, eventually ended the start with eight hits with a 77-ball 62. succeeded in changing fence and two max. He emerged as the top scorer after playing for Leicestershire, setting a target of 367 for victory after India declared 364 for 7 in their second innings.
Hanuma Vihari, who also batted for both the teams, spent some quality time in the middle with his 86-ball 26. He had scored 3 and 20 in the previous innings. Chasing 367, Leicestershire lost Hasan Azad (12) early on Day 4, but Gill put on a 67-run partnership with captain Samuel Evans (26) to stabilize the innings.
However, spinner Ashwin dismissed both the set batsmen. The 35-year-old from Chennai first got Gill caught by Mohammed Shami in the 28th over and then impressed Evans with a clean take behind the stumps with wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat.
Vihari and Louis Kimber (58 not out) then came together and shared a 72-run partnership to take Leicestershire close to 200. Vihari’s stay came to an end when Ravindra Jadeja (1/35 in 8 overs) got him caught in the 56th over.
Kimber and Joy Evison (15 not out) added 37 runs while batting for the other 10 overs before the two teams decided to join hands. Known for both the Indians and Leicestershire, Krishna and Bumrah bowled but both could not take wickets on the final day. While Krishna bowled five overs for 19 runs, Bumrah bowled 8 overs for 12 runs. Among other Indians, Cheteshwar Pujara also batted for both the teams, while Shreyas Iyer and Jadeja batted twice in India’s second innings on Saturday.
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