India had little to complain about on the first day of their two-day practice game against West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI at the Warner Park in St. Kitts. The Indian team management will be content with the batting show as the visitors lost just three wickets in the 93 overs of play after electing to bat first. With the two teams deciding to bat for one day each, at close of play India made 258/3. Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma struck half-centuries.
With 12 players allowed to play and 11 to take the field, Test regulars M. Vijay, R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja were given a break along with Stuart Binny and Shardul Thakur. Bengal pacer Mohd. Shami was included as the 12th man.
The visitors got a solid start from Dhawan and Rahul who took time to settle down on what was a damp wicket owing to some pertinent showers early on Saturday morning. The two were happy to leave the balls outside the off stump. India crossed the 50-run mark in the 20th over and since that stage, the run-rate picked up. Both Rahul and Dhawan switched gears and attacked slower bowlers regularly. Dhawan reached his fifty in 88 balls just before the lunch break as India made 93 in the first session.
In the second session, Rahul brought up his half-century in 99 balls with the help of five boundaries and a six and like Dhawan retired soon after getting the milestone. With the sun beating down, the home team’s captain Leon Johnson got his spinners to do a majority of the job in the second session. Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican (26-9-61- 2) bowled a tight line and picked up a big wicket when he got India captain Virat Kohli caught behind by wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich for 14 off 40 balls. Kohli was looking to drive the ball, but got an outside edge. The spinner from Barbados picked up another big wicket of Ajinjya Rahane who was bowled while trying to flick. India lost both the wickets in the second session that saw 73 runs being scored in 32 overs as India got to 166/2 in 60 overs.
Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara looked unperturbed on a wicket that had low bounce at times. Pujara had no trouble in facing the spinners and even the quicks. After batting for 115 minutes in which he faced 102 balls, he retired on 34 (4x5). The final session was dominated by Rohit Sharma, who got off the mark with a beautiful square cut. In the company of wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, Rohit kept the scorecard ticking and put the pressure back on the bowlers. Both the batsmen used their feet well against the spinners and the runs began to flow. Rohit delighted a small group of Indian fans with his well-timed strokes down the ground. India lost their third wicket of the day when Saha was out on 22 but Amit Mishra gave good company to Rohit, who brought up his half-century in 120 balls with eight boundaries and a six.
On Day Two, the Indian bowlers will have the opportunity to get a feel of the conditions while many from the home team will look to impress the selectors ahead of the squad team announcement for the upcoming Test series that begins in Antigua from July 21.
Brief Scores: Indians 258/6 in 93 overs (Rohit Sharma 54 not out, Shikhar Dhawan 51, KL Rahul 50, Jomel Warrican 2/61).
