India started their first tour game of West Indies’ tour 2016 on a positive note. India’s opening batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul scored fifties and looked very solid in the middle. After both the openers retired following their respective fifties, India’s captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane didn’t have productive outings. But Pujara’s 34 and Rohit’s fifty helped India end the opening day’s play at 258 for 3. India’s captain Virat Kohli opted to bat first after winning the toss.
Only 12 players were allowed to play and eleven to take the field, Murali Vijay, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny and Shardul Thakur were the ones to be rested while Mohammad Shami was part of the 12. Murali Vijay has been India’s first-choice opener in Test cricket, but it was an opportunity given to KL Rahul to show his talent, and he didn’t disappoint. India’s number 3 Cheteshwar Pujara took his time in the middle and scored 34 runs off 102 balls. Pujara hasn’t been in the best of form and it was a much-needed outing for him.
At the end of 20 overs, India 54/0. Shikhar Dhawan 27, KL Rahul 23. Earlier, @SDhawan25 stepped out to hit a four. pic.twitter.com/TuQk8i3Bpo
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 9, 2016
Brief scores: India 258/3 in 93 overs (Rohit Sharma 54*, Shikhar Dhawan 51, KL Rahul 37, Cheteshwar Pujara 34; Jomel Warrican 2-61, Damion Jacobs 1-80) vs West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI.
