India vs County Select XI: Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane rested for warm-up game, pacer Avesh Khan turns out for opposition

India XI captain Rohit Sharma (right) with County Select XI skipper Will Rhodes ahead of the practice game. (Source: Twitter)

Skipper Virat Kohli and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane have opted out of the three day first-class warm-up fixture against County Select XI along with senior-off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Rohit Sharma is leading the side in Kohli and Rahane’s absence as the game began Tuesday (July 20). In an interesting move, India’s reserve pacer Avesh Khan is playing for the opposition side. It is understood that it was done after both sides mutually agreed to give their players game time.

Incidentally, during Pakistan’s 1987 tour of the country, 14-year-old Sachin Tendulkar was summoned as the reserve fielder for Imran Khan-led side during a match against India at Brabourne Stadium. Mayank Agarwal, who is likely to open with Rohit Sharma in the first Test at Nottingham will be watched keenly along with Mohammed Siraj, who could preferred over Ishant Sharma in the playing XI.

First team regular like Mohammed Shami has also been rested from the game, which is one of India's rare first-class game in last 10 years. It is understood that Kohli, Rahane, Shami, Jadeja will be sweating it out at the nets alongside Ashwin, who has already bowled a whopping 58 overs and taken seven wickets in a County game for Surrey last week.

#TeamIndia are sporting black armbands to mourn the sad demise of former India cricketer Yashpal Sharma ji, who sadly passed away on 13th July after a cardiac arrest. Head Coach @RaviShastriOfc was his teammate in the 1983 World Cup winning squad. pic.twitter.com/A72aZ258aT — BCCI (@BCCI) July 20, 2021

It is tentatively scheduled between July 26-28. While Kohli, Rahane, Shami are also coming from a three-week break, playing a first-class match means that all the seniors will have to remain on field for a stipulated period of time.

The match also provides an opportunity to Hanuma Vihari to score a few runs and keep Rahane under pressure since he hasn't been scoring runs very consistently. The five-Test series will be an acid test for both Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahane.

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, KL Rahul (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

(with PTI inputs)