Before the start of the all important test series, India played a 3-day practice game against Essex at Chelmsford. The game ended in a draw on Friday but left India with alot of questions to answer before the start of the first test against England at Edgbaston from 1st August. However, on the last day of the test match there was a special arrangement for the Indian players that was surely enjoyed by the “Delhi boys”.
Indian team was welcomed by a group of Bhangra band and skipper Virat Kohli could not resist himself to shake a leg and compliment the band. Besides Virat, “Jatt Ji” Shikhar Dhawan was also quick to show some bhangra moves on his arrival to the ground.
Two @BCCI players have enjoyed their time at Chelmsford!
Well played, @imVkohli & @SDhawan25! ???#ESSvIND pic.twitter.com/Uz8W7p2xoh
— Essex Cricket (@EssexCricket) July 27, 2018
Earlier in the match, India posted a total of 395 runs in the first innings, thanks to the contributions from captain Virat Kohli (68 runs) and Dinesh Karthik (82). Shikhar Dhawan again failed to fire and was set packing on a duck. Murali Vijay (53), KL Rahul(58) and Hardik Pandya(51) were also amongst the runs.
Mohammed Shami, who was coming from back of some personal life issues failed to impress after going wicket-less. Umesh Yadav(4), Ishant Sharma(3) and Shardul Thakur(1) were amongst the wickets but Indian team failed to bowl out Essex after they declared their innings on 359/8. The spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav looked rusty as they failed to bag a wicket.
In the second innings, Shikhar Dhawan again got out on a duck that draw some criticism and may ousted him from the first test. KL Rahul(36*), Cheteshwar Pujara(23) and Ajinkya Rahane (19*) were amongst the runs as India managed 89 runs at the loss of 2 wickets.
