The Indian cricket team is currently in West Indies to play two tests, three ODIs and five T20Is. The first Test of the series will start from July 12 and the visitors participated in a two-day warm-up match ahead of the same. Readers must note that India were criticized for not having adequate practice ahead of ICC World Test Championship final against Australia last month.
Advertisement
Hence, India reached West Indies more than a week before the first match. The batting duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad are selected for the very first time in the Indian Test squad. The warm-up match was played at the Kensington Oval, Barbados.
India have started their tour of the West Indies with two-day warm-up match in Barbados.
They had a special moment on Monday when they met Sir Garfield Sobers, one of the greatest cricketers of all time, during training at Kensington Oval.#WIvIND #MenInMaroon pic.twitter.com/qh0iQwdE2q
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) July 5, 2023
Indian Cricket Team Practice Match
It was an intra-squad match between the Indian side joined by eight local West Indies players. The match was not given first-class status. Captain Rohit Sharma led one side and the other side was captained by all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin. Sharma’s team had star names such as Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Ajinkya Rahane, Axar Patel, etc.
Jaiswal got the chance to open with Sharma to try the left-right combination. He made full use of the opportunity and scored 54 (76) to impress the team management. Sharma also looked great in the middle where he smashed a brilliant six off pacer Jaydev Unadkat’s delivery.
Kohli, on the other hand, failed and got out by edging the ball to the first slip off Unadkat’s. The corridor outside off stump has been a matter of concern for the former Indian captain for a long time now. Sharma’s team declared their innings at 191/3 in 64 overs.
Gaikwad opened the innings with West Indian batter Zachary McCaskie but he failed to impress. The Indian opener could just score 14 (9) with the help of two boundaries before getting out on pacer Navdeep Saini. Wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan also couldn’t impress by scoring just 26 (50). All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja contributed 38 (36).
Ashwin’s XI declared their innings at 239/6. Pacer Mukesh Kumar and all-rounder Axar Patel took two wickets each in the match. The match ended in a draw but it was good preparation for all the players involved. Some spots in the Playing XI are up for grabs and it will be interesting to see who will get the nod.
Why Did Ajinkya Rahane Bat Twice In India vs West Indies Warm Up Match 2023?
Part of Sharma’s team, vice-captain Rahane batted a couple of times scoring 1 and 28 respectively. It is quite a normal practice to allow a specialist batter to bat twice in the same innings of a practice match.
With him scoring just score one run in the first attempt, the management would’ve though of giving him another chance to adjust better to the conditions. It is noteworthy that batter Shreyas Iyer had also batted twice in the fourth innings of India’s warm-up match against Leicestershire last year.
