India vs Leicestershire: KS Bharat’s unbeaten 70 helps India to 246/8 after top-order fails on rain-marred Day 1

KS Bharat struck a strong half-century to make sure that India reached 246 for 8 earlier than rain pressured early stumps on the primary day of the tour match in opposition to a Leicestershire XI that included Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna.

India’s tour of England and Ireland bought off to a shaky begin on the opening morning of the warm-up fixture in opposition to a mixed Leicestershire and India XI on Thursday.

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill’s opening stand of 35 ended abruptly when the youthful opener was caught behind off Will Davis for 21, with Rishabh Pant, a part of a rejigged opposition XI, taking the catch.

FIFTY for @KonaBharat within the apply match.#CrewIndia 208/7 pic.twitter.com/S4Faj8njeq

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 23, 2022

The wickets continued to tumble in Leicester, with three main India batters departing in fast succession Rohit Sharma (25), Hanuma Vihari (3) and Shreyas Iyer (0) becoming a member of Gill again within the hutch early.

And Ravindra Jadeja (13) was the fifth batter to fall within the morning session, leaving India 90/5 at lunch.

It was a regarding morning for India’s top-order, who significantly struggled in opposition to Leicestershire seamers Will Davis and Roman Walker.

Two gamers with vastly contrasting profiles set about repairing the harm after lunch, with Virat Kohli and Srikar Bharat placing on a partnership of 57 within the afternoon.

Kohli’s 33 got here off 69 balls and featured 5 boundaries, together with one huge six off Prasidh Krishna, with the previous skipper wanting in affordable contact earlier than he was trapped in entrance by Walker.

And Bharat strengthened his case for a primary India cap with a well timed half-century, top-scoring on the day for India.

The 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter has been in and across the India set-up in each white-ball and red-ball cricket for 3 years, showing in quite a few squads as damage cowl however but to function as a beginning participant.

Jasprit Bumrah bowled 9 rusty however helpful overs, whereas Prasidh Krishna bought by means of a very good set of overs himself, selecting up the wicket of Shreyas Iyer alongside the best way.