India v/s WICB President’s XI: Openers,Rohit slams 50 on Day1

St.kitts: Fifties from Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Lokesh Rahul, followed by another fifty from Rohit Sharma were the main highlights for India on the first day of the warm-up game against West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI in St. Kitts on Saturday.

With 12 players 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, after Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first. Dhawan and Rahul, who came out to open, weren’t in any hurry, in their bid to get adjusted to the Caribbean conditions. Although their scoring rate wasn’t all that brisk, the openers batted with application and were largely untroubled on a pitch that appeared to be easy on the batsmen, not offering much for the pacers despite the presence of a cloud cover.

Even the spinners hardly got any assistance as Rahul and Dhawan built a steady partnership. The opening pair upped the scoring rate after bringing up the half-century stand, as they made sure to put away any loose delivery that was on offer. Dhawan, who brought up an 88-ball fifty in the 26th over with his seventh four, remained unbeaten on 51 while Rahul was not out on 37 when the lunch break was taken, with India seven short of the 100-run mark.

The 93-run opening stand gave India a solid platform and Dhawan registered his fifty before retiring out. Rahul also went past fifty and he also retired out in order to give the other batsmen a hit in the middle.

Cheteshwar Pujara looked good for his 34 from 102 balls. Next up was Indian Skipper Virat Kohli, who got out early and was dismissed by slow left-arm orthodox spinner Jomel Warrican for 14. Ajinkya Rahane also failed as he was cleaned up by Warrican for 5.

However, Rohit Sharma steadied the ship and he shared a good stand with wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha to steady India. After Saha got out, Mishra came in and joined Rohit who smashed eight fours and a six to bring up his fifty as India ended the day on 258/6 in 93 overs.

Brief scores: India 258/6 in 93 overs (Rohit Sharma 54*, Shikhar Dhawan 51, Lokesh Rahul 50, Jomel Warrican 2/61) vs West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI

After the warm up match between India and West Indies, cricket fans can definitely look forward to some nail biting cricketing moves in the upcoming series .