India captain Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane are not participating in the ongoing three-day practice match between Indians and County Select XI at Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street, Durham.
Rohit Sharma is leading the Indian team in Kohli and Rahane’s absence, and the likes of Hanuma Vihari and KL Rahul would be batting in the middle order.
Fast bowler Mohammed Shami has also rested from the warm-up game. It is understood that Kohli, Rahane, Shami and Ravindra Jadeja will be hitting the nets alongside Ravichandran Ashwin, who recently bowled over 50 overs and took seven wickets during a County Championship game against Somerset last week.
Meanwhile, Avesh Khan – who has travelled to England with the Indian squad as a net bowler – and all-rounder Washington Sundar are playing for County Select XI.
Interesting! Avesh Khan bowling for County XI against India in the warm-up game.#INDvsSL
pic.twitter.com/lYiWR9wkuB— Bibekananda Sahu (@IamBibeka) July 20, 2021
Indians have won the toss and opted to bat first in their only practice game on England tour.
Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
County Select XI: Haseeb Hameed, Jake Libby, Robert Yates, Washington Sundar, Will Rhodes (c), James Rew (wk), Liam Patterson-White, Jack Carson, Craig Miles, Avesh Khan, Lyndon James.
