CHELMSFORD: Pacers Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma shared four wickets between them in absence of injured R Aswhin as Essex batsmen made India toil hard by reaching 237 for five on the second day of the three-day practice game, here on Thursday.
India, who resumed at 322 for six, lead by 158 runs after finishing their first innings at 395. Off-spinner Ashwin injured his right hand during practice before the action began on day two and did not take the field at all. According to the team management it is not a serious injury. Ashwin did bowl in the nets during the lunch break, but did not take the field, with bat or ball, as a precaution. Yadav (2/23) was the pick of the bowlers as he bowed a superb opening spell with the new ball.
Mohammed Shami shared first-spell duties with him, and although he kept things tight, he couldn’t generate the movement that his partner did. Yadav had provided the initial breakthrough, trapping Nick Browne (11) lbw early. He used the new ball to shape it away nicely from the right-handers, while bringing it back in to the left-handed opener, and that’s how he got the wicket.
Ishant Sharma (2/38) started off well and trapped Varun Chopra (16) but struggled to control of line towards the latter half of his first spell and proved expensive thereafter.
Tom Westley (57) made this waywardness count as he stroked to a half-century with 11 fours. He played quite a few streaky shots, especially against Hardik Pandya (0-41), who was easily India’s second-best bowler on the day after Yadav. (PTI)
Rashid recalled to England Test squad, selectors face wrath of former captains
LONDON: Adil Rashid has been recalled to the England squad for the first test against India, despite the leg-spinner saying he wanted to focus on limited-overs cricket.
The 30-year-old signed a white-ball only contract with his county Yorkshire in February but said he “was not finished” with the longest format of the game. Rashid, who has played 10 tests and picked up 38 wickets, was picked in the 13-man squad ahead of Jack Leach and Dom Bess, the two Somerset spinners who have featured in the last three tests. Pillorying the decision to recall leg-spinner Adil Rashid in the England squad for the first Test against India, from captains Michael Vaughan and Nasir Hussain said it was a “ridiculous” decision and the selection panel has set a “dangerous precedent”.
Considering his impressive show with the white ball, the England selection panel decided to include Rashid in the side. (Agencies)