Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill reach fifty while Indians reach 472
Indians 194 and 386 for 4 (Vihari 104 *, Pant 103 *) lead Australia A 108 for 472 runs
The Indian batsmen capped off their preparations for the Adelaide Test with a quiet hundred for Hanuma Vihari and a swashbuckling one for Rishabh Pant. Also in attendance were the fifties for Mayank Agarwal and Shubhman Gill, who took the Indians lead to 472 at the end of the second day of their final game of the tour. Significantly, parts of Vihari and Pant’s innings were played in the night session, which is traditionally the hardest time to hit in day and night trials in Australia. However, a considerable chunk of this time was spent waiting for the new ball, facing harmless effect, which is understandable given Australia is apparently losing one bowler a day due to injury.
The reason the Indians kept hitting until the last session was to stretch both their hitters and their bowlers. Not only did it mean that the batsmen had a bit of a trial run under the lights, but it also meant that their bowlers will have to work harder, in theory at least, than they had to do when they knocked out Australia A in just 32.2 overs in the night session. the first day.
Before that, however, the Indians started the day looking for some form signs of their higher order. Prithvi Shaw may have failed again while attempting to punch up and away from the body, but Gill showed continuous improvement and Agarwal applied himself to turn a faltering start to half a century.
In two of his previous three innings on the tour, Gill had shown some good hitting form, but this half century it was more about getting more in long form mode. It’s hard to tell if it was higher bat speed or hard hands on his previous shots, but he seemed to have more control this inning. The cover-drive and pulls were also present in previous innings, but this one had more control shots. Ultimately, he fell into what seemed like a tough decision to catch in the wicket, but these games can’t have DRS.
With his 65 of 78, Gill, who plays as a starter in domestic cricket, presented a case to partner Agarwal in the first Test. It may well happen given Shaw’s lack of racing, unless team management has plans to use Gill as Kohli’s replacement once the India captain goes on paternity leave after the first test. The other lock for the starting role, Agarwal, got valuable time in the middle after he missed early in the first inning. Agarwal maintained a good uniform temperature in the innings, but he will not be happy with the interruption of concentration that led to his sending off in 61. He played a distracted aerial square shot straight to the deep point, just the kind of mental error you would hate during a test match.
The Indians had enough on the board by then, but they wanted to have a bat under the lights for not playing too much pink ball cricket. And the tradition was kept up with even the old ball starting to wobble in the final innings, resulting in the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane, who will be upset with a second bite away from the body in this match.
Vihari negotiated the terms well. He has had starts in each of his innings, which included his perfect image on the drive, but turned it into three figures. Pant showed just how dominant the leading position can be given him, hitting limits with even seven men on the fence. His last full-length outing earned Pant a hundred, and for some time it seemed he would fall tantalizingly short of another here. The last over started at 81 no out, and the first ball was hit in the stomach. However, he followed with 4, 4, 6, 4, 4 to finish with an undefeated 103 of 73 balls.
Sidharth Monga is assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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