Picture Credit: BCCI
Indian cricketers delivered an impressive performance against Leicestershire during the 4-day warm-up game ahead of the rescheduled fifth Test match. Indian batters like Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja looked in fine touch as they all stuck half-centuries.
In terms of bowling, Indian bowlers delivered impressive performances as Ravindra Jadeja and Md. Shami picked four and three wickets, respectively. Though team India suffered a big blow as their regular skipper Rohit Sharma tested COVID-19 positive and is kept under isolation, head coach Rahul Dravid believes that team has ticked all the right boxes and is ready to take on the hosts in a pending red-ball match.
In a video posted on Leicestershire's official Twitter handle, Dravid said: "I think whatever we needed to achieve and whatever boxes we needed to tick in terms of our preparation leading into the Test match on Friday, I think we are very satisfied and happy, we have been able to do that this week.” Commenting on the weather and how players are adapting to the conditions, the former India captain emphasized on the fact that cricketers are well trained to adapt to different weather.
"When you have got just one game or one-off game in a series, it's not really a lot of time, you’ve got to hit the ground running hard and you’ve got to be able to hopefully get your act together right from the first day of the Test match," he added. Dravid also hailed the Leicestershire management for providing the India team with the best of the facility.
"I thought you know everyone’s really looked after us really well. It’s been great crowds, you know, it’s really lovely to see so many people come to watch the game like this and just the atmosphere and the vibe have been excellent,” he said.
India were leading the series 2-1 last year before the final Test was abandoned owing to a COVID-19 outbreak in the visitors’ camp. The same has been rescheduled to commence on July 1 this year at the Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham.