At stumps on Day 1 of the warm up game, India have scored 246/8 against Leicestershire at the Uptonsteel Cricket Ground on Thursday (June 23), largely owing to KS Bharat’s top-scoring 111-ball 70*. The wicketkeeper batsman had a smooth innings and had a fifty-run partnership with Virat Kohli (33).
Before losing three fast wickets, India enjoyed a promising start owing to Shubman Gill (21) and Rohit Sharma (25). Hanuma Vihari failed to contribute and was dropped with a score of 3.
After losing their first five wickets for 82 runs, India was guided to recovery by the backup wicketkeeper, Bharat. With a 57-run partnership, Bharat and Kohli stabilised India, but the partnership came to an end when Roman Walker bowled out the former India captain for LBW. Shardul Thakur was subsequently bowled by the 21-year-old pacer, giving him a five-wicket haul (5 for 24), and he also caused India some grief on the difficult surface.
India will just play this match as a warm-up before the fifth Test match against England at Edgbaston, which will begin on July 1. Before the crucial match against England, Indian players would try to be at their finest. After the fifth Test was postponed owing to a Covid pandemic in the Indian camp last year, India now leads the series 2-1. Prior to the Edgbaston Test, the attention will be on captain Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli, who are both battling for game time. For this match, the Leicestershire team has added Cheteshwar Pujara, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and Prasidh Krishna.
