Ajinkya Rahane finally hit some form with the bat as he led India to a draw against West Indies ‘A’ in the three-day practice match at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

Rahane, who opened the innings for his side on Monday scored 54 but batted out time as he faced 162 balls in India’s second innings. He also added a 96-run stand for the second wicket along with Hanuma Vihari who followed up his first-innings of 37 not out with an excellent 64.

Rahane had been struggling for form since he began his maiden county stint with a century for Hampshire in May.

The Indian vice-captain was not the best of form at the international level. And the upcoming two-match Test series against West Indies will be crucial to his future with the national team.

India declared their second innings on 188/5 to have a go at West Indies A in the final session of the last day. The likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja who did not feature in the first innings got an opportunity to both bat and bowl in the second innings.

Both Rishabh Pant and Wriddhiman Saha, who is making a comeback after a long injury layoff, got an opportunity to bat on Day 3.

West Indies A put on 47 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in 21 overs when both the captains decided to call the practice match a draw.

India will now take on West Indies in the two-match Test series. It will also be the first World Test Championship match for the two teams respectively, starting on August 22 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

Brief Scores:

India 297/5 (Cheteshwar Pujara 100; Jonathan Carter 3-39) & 188/5 (Hanuma Vihari 64; Akim Frazer 2-43) drew with West Indies A 187 (Kavem Hodge 51; Umesh Yadav 3-19) & 47/3 (Jeremy Solozano 16; Ravindra Jadeja 1-3).

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Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav struck thrice each as India bowl West Indies ‘A’ out for 181 on the second day of the practice match at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, on Sunday.

After declaring on their overnight score of 297 for 5, pacer Ishant Sharma rocked the West Indies ‘A’ batting order, leaving them reeling at 30 for 2. The pace spearhead of the Indian team removed Windies ‘A’ top-order batsmen Jeremy Solozano and Brandon King before returning to dismiss opener, Kavem Hodge.

Ishant was provided full support by Umesh, who picked up the big wicket of Darren Bravo for 11.

Captain Jahmar Hamilton and all-rounder Jonathan Carter led a middle-order fightback for the hosts but left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep removed them both to help India restrict West Indies ‘A’ under 200.

Umesh takes the catch – WI A bowled out for 181. 3 wickets each for Kuldeep, Ishant & Umesh. It is Tea on Day 2 #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/ASHQQ1tQG9

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 18, 2019

In their second innings, India lost Mayank Agarwal early (12) but Hanuma Vihari continued his good run of form with an unbeaten 48. Notably, Vihari was unbeaten on 36 when India declared their first innings.

Also, Mayank opened with captain Ajinkya Rahane instead of KL Rahul. Rahane, who is not in the best of form, had the much-needed match practice out in the middle as he scored just 20 runs but faced 95 balls in the second innings. Rahane was dismissed for 1 in the first innings.

End of Day's play here in Antigua. #TeamIndia 84/1. Vihari 48*, Rahane 20*. Join us tomorrow for the final day 👍🏻👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/0WE86azEpA

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 18, 2019

Brief Scores:

India (1st Innings): 297/5 from 88.5 overs declared (Pujara 100 retired, Rohit Sharma 68, Rishabh Pant 33, Hanuma Vihari 37 not out; Jonathan Carter 3/39)

West Indies (1st innings): 181 in 56.1 overs (Kavem Hodge 51; Umesh 3/19, Ishant 3/21, Kuldeep 3/35)

India (2nd Innings) at stumps on Day 2: 85/1 in 34 overs (Vihari 48 not out, Rahane 20 not out; Shepherd 1/3)

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Cheteshwar Pujara smashed a ton, and Rohit Sharma scored a crucial half-century on Day 1 of India’s practice match against Windies ‘A’ at Antigua on Saturday.

At stumps, India managed to put 297 runs on the board at a loss of 5 wickets.

In the absence of injured Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane is leading the Indian team in this three-day practice game. After winning the toss, the Indian captain opted to bat first. However, most of the Indian batsmen failed to score big on an opening day.

Our openers are off! #TeamIndia won the toss and will have a bat first against West Indies A 🏏🏏 pic.twitter.com/uV0AUnzQGT

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 17, 2019

Opener KL Rahul looked fluent during his knock of 36 off 51 balls with five fours and a six but his partner Mayank Agarwal’s defence was breached within the first hour.

Rahul looked good for a big one before being holed out to Romario Shepherd off new ball bowler Keon Harding’s bowling.

Captain Rahane, who has been in wretched form for the past couple of years and also had a poor county stint with Hampshire, was out for 1, edging seamer allrounder Jonathan Carter behind stumps to keeper-captain Jahmar Hamilton.

Rohit Sharma, who got a few crisp boundaries at the start of his innings, scored 68 runs off 115 balls before the off-spinner Akim Frazer dismissed him. In his innings, Rohit hit eight fours and a six. Meanwhile, the dogged Pujara retired hurt on hundred after facing 187 balls,

How good was that knock! @cheteshwar1 walks back after scoring a fine century. He is retired not out at 100 with #TeamIndia at 245/4. pic.twitter.com/l8k1ka4YKl

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 17, 2019

In the post-Tea session, Hanuma Vihari and Rishabh Pant took the guiding roles for Team India.

And just before the final two balls of the day, Pant lost his wicket on 33. At stumps, Vihari remained not out on 37 along with Ravindra Jadeja (1*), who got off the mark on the very first ball he faced.

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