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A high-quality innings from Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara helped India reach 333 runs for the loss of 4 wickets at stumps on Day 1 of the first warm-up match against Leicestershire. The surface was good to bat on which the India’s openers exploited it to perfection.
After winning the toss, India decided to bat first. Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan provided a solid start, which was capitalized by the middle order batsmen. The pair tackled the new-ball really well and the shot selection from the duo was perfect. They stuck to the basics and were not pre-meditated. They gathered momentum when Vijay struck a glorious four off Atif Sheikh in the fourth over.
In the next over, Vijay struck another four through the covers from the bowling of Anthony Ireland and the duo never allowed the bowlers to settle down. On the other hand, Dhawan didn’t attack the bowlers. He brought up his first boundary when he struck Sheikh for a glorious four through cover region only in the ninth over. However, when Vijay looked in good nick, he was dismissed by Ireland for 20.
Subsequently, Gautam Gambhir, who joined Dhawanin the middle, played his strokes freely. Gambhir scored seven boundaries in his innings of 54 before retiring out. Chesteshwar Pujara, who has perfect technique to play in England, walked out to the crease. He scored eight blistering boundaries in his innings of 57 before going back to the dressing room. But the major drawback was that Dhawan was injured when he was hit on the hand by Sheikh. He was taken off the field by the physio.
Virat Kohli, however didn’t make any impact as he was dismissed for 29. But Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma batted with ease as they shared an unbeaten 74-run partnership for the fifth wicket. For Leicestershire, Anthony Ireland and Shiv Thakor were the pick of the bowlers as they claimed a wicket each. Sheikh posed several problems to India’s batsmen, but couldn’t get any reward.
At the end of day’s play, India were 333/4 from 90 overs.
