• Home
  • Latest Cricket News
  • KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja And Umesh Yadav Shine As India's Warm-Up Game Against County Select XI Ends In A Draw

KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja And Umesh Yadav Shine As India's Warm-Up Game Against County Select XI Ends In A Draw

By Yash Mittal

Updated - 23 Jul 2021, 01:25 AM

KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja
KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja stitched a partnership over 100 runs. (Photo: BCCI/Twitter)

Table of Contents

The three-day warm-up game between Team India and County Select XI at the Emirates Riverside in Durham came to an end this Thursday evening with the visitors getting a solid workout in the middle ahead of the upcoming five-match Test series against Joe Root’s England.

The Indians were without the services of skipper Virat Kohli, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and the experienced duo of Ishant Sharma and R. Ashwin due to a variety of reasons.

While Virat and Rahane did not feature due to their respective injuries, Ishant Sharma and Ashwin were rested. Rishabh Pant, on the other hand, missed out due to Covid.

With Wriddhiman Saha also unavailable due to a ten-day isolation after he came in close contact with throwdown specialist Dayanand Garani, who had tested positive last week, KL Rahul donned the keeping gloves.

India, KL Rahul Scores A Century Against County Select XI In Warm-Up Clash (Photo- BCCI Twitter)
KL Rahul Scores A Century Against County Select XI In Warm-Up Clash (Photo- BCCI Twitter)

Rahul, who was playing his first FC game since the Ranji semi-finals in March 2020, made the most of his opportunity as he smashed a brilliant unbeaten hundred in India’s first inning before retiring out.

Rahul’s knock of 101 off 150 balls wasn’t only crucial from an individual point of view, it was also crucial because of the context of the game. India had already lost their four top-order batters in the form of skipper Rohit Sharma [9], Mayank Agarwal [28], Cheteshwar Pujara [21], and Hanuma Vihari [24] at the score of 107 and the possibility of getting bowled out for an underwhelming total deemed large.

However, Rahul, along with dynamic all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, stitched a brilliant 127-run-stand for the 5th wicket to take India to safety.

Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja (Image Credit: Twitter)

Jadeja, on the other hand, had another brilliant outing in the warm-up game as he smashed consecutive half-centuries besides claiming one wicket in the form of James Rew.

Jadeja racked up a brilliant 146-ball 75 in the first innings and he backed it up with yet another 50-plus score [51  not-out off 77 balls]  in the second essay before retiring out.

As far as the Indian bowling is concerned, each of Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja had a solid workout in the middle.

Umesh Yadav was clearly the pick of the fast bowlers as the Vidarbha Express consistently troubled the County Select XI batters with seam and swing and at a searing pace.

Yadav sent down 15 overs in the first innings and gave away just 22 runs besides claiming 3 wickets.  The veteran bowled on a fullish length and seamed the ball at a vicious pace and the County Select XI batters sans Haseeb Hameed, who scored a brilliant 112- did not have any clue whatsoever.

And, it was completely evident during Will Rhodes’ dismissal in the first innings when the ball seamed in to knock over his off-stump.

Jasprit Bumrah too had a decent workout but, at times, he was guilty of bowling a tad too short. He did claim a wicket in the first innings- of Robert Yates who nicked off- while sending down 15 overs for 29 overs.

Mohammed Siraj also had a decent outing. The right-arm seamer knocked over his compatriot Washington Sundar with a rip-snorting bouncer before cleaning up Jack Carson with a fullish delivery.

India eventually dismissed County Select XI for 220 on the 2nd evening. Cheteshwar Pujara and Mayank Agarwal opened the innings for the visitors in the second innings and the duo stitched a brilliant 87-run-stand.

But, both batters failed to get past the 50-run-mark. While Mayank was dismissed for 47, Pujara was once again knocked over by spinner Carson.

Hanuma Vihari [43 not-out] and Ravindra Jadeja [51 not-out] had a decent hit-out in the middle before India declared their inning for 192.

Jasprit Bumrah and Shardul Thakur sent down 10 overs between them but with very little success and the game was eventually called off during the 16th over.

During the course of the warm-up game, however, the visitors were dealt with two more injury blows in the form of Avesh Khan and Washington Sundar- both of whom were featuring for the County Select XI. It remains to be seen whether the BCCI announces injury replacements for the duo and Shubman Gill, who was earlier ruled out of the series due to injury.

Also Read- Watch: KL Rahul’s Respectful Gesture Towards The Indian Test Cap During The Warm-Up Match

Tagged:

KL Rahul Ravindra Jadeja Team India Umesh Yadav

Latest News

View All