Rahul, Gill slam fifties, Shardul shines

India cricket team captain Shubman Gill led from the front with a calm and composed half-century on Day 1 of the intra-squad game against India A. The one-off practice match ahead of the England series is the only space where members of the main squad can get some game time before the 1st Test on June 20. As per reports, batters made the most of the conditions at the Kent County Cricket Club in Beckenham.

Gill, Rahul register half-centuries

As per Times of India, Gill anchored the innings for India in the practice tie. The highlight of his knock was his footwork and elegant stroke play. KL Rahul also slammed a half-century, possibly while batting in the middle-order. Shardul Thakur made good use of the conditions, picking up key wickets. The report states that Thakur managed to extract movement off the pitch and put the batters in a fix with his variations.

Notably, India head coach Gautam Gambhir was missing from the contest. The former Indian cricketer flew back to India on Friday due to a family emergency. Reports have hinted that he is likely to rejoin the squad sometime next week.

At the start of the game, both India and India A cricketers paid tribute to the victims of the Ahmedabad plane crash. The players were seen wearing a black armband.

Squads

India: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper/vice captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav

India A: Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (vice-captain/wicket-keeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harsh Dubey