Leicester: Rishabh Pant decided to rise to the west after his woes in the subcontinent, batting with his signature aggressive manner, hitting the headlines on the second day of the practice match. India and Leicestershire here. One of four Indian players to play for England’s county team in the warm-up match, Pant hit an amusing 76 off 87 balls at Grace Road. During his 154-minute stay in the middle, Pant entertained the visitors with 14 fours and a six.
Responding to 246 for eight declared after a day of multiple rain interruptions, Leicestershire were poised to take a huge lead over the tourists when Pant was in his element. But Shreyas Iyer’s good catch off left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja ended the wicketkeeper-batsman’s chances of getting out. After this they were making 138 for six in one leg of the innings.
Leicestershire’s first innings ended on 244, two less than India’s total. Meanwhile, seamer Mohammed Shami was seen jumping on Cheteshwar Pujara’s back to celebrate his wicket, even as the batsman walked back to the dressing room with a smile. Pujara, who was dismissed for a duck, is part of the Leicestershire XI in the match.
The 24-year-old Pant, who made a stellar return to the Indian team in the T20I series against South Africa at home but struggled to score runs and was dismissed in the same fashion, played some fine shots here on Friday. There was a lovely cover drive against Mohammed Shami, when he was engaged in some sort of fight with the world-class India seamer.
Then, Pant used Umesh Yadav’s pace and hit a six to complete his half-century. Apart from Pant, Rishi Patel and Roman Walker contributed 34-34 for the hosts. Among the Indian bowlers, Shami and Jadeja were the most successful with figures of 3/42 and 3/28 respectively.
There were two wickets each for Shardul Thakur, who was challenged by Pant & Co and Mohammad Siraj. Thakur’s lack of pace helped the batsmen play him without any difficulty. A day after scoring an unbeaten 70 in the first essay, Srikar Bharat (31 not out) and Shubman Gill (38) added 62 runs for the first wicket as India batted for the second time in the four-day match. Gill was bowled by Will Davis after his innings in 34 balls, during which he hit eight fours.
Hanuma Vihari (9) was giving India company when stumps went ahead with India leading by 82 runs. By the end of the game, India had scored 84 for one wicket.
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