Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill fall for duck before Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara rescue India in tour match against New Zealand XI

Image Credits: Twitter/@RealShubmanGill

Hamilton: In what can be seen as a worrying sign for the Indian Test team, youngsters Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, and Shubman Gill failed to impress with the bat on Friday in the ongoing practice match against New Zealand XI.

Shaw and Gill were dismissed for a duck while Agarwal managed to register just one run. All the batsmen were dismissed by Scott Kuggeleijn and as a result, the side was reduced to 5/3 in the seventh over.

For the practice game, the two teams mutually decided that the visiting team will bat first in the three-day warm-up game. In the ongoing practice match, Ajinkya Rahane played a knock of 18 runs, but Jimmy Neesham dismissed him in the 16th over, reducing India to 38/4.

Hanuma Vihari and Cheteshwar Pujara retrieved the innings for the Indian side in the practice match by playing a blistering knock of 101 and 93. However, India were eventually bundled out for 263 at stumps. 

Regular opener Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the Test team due to an injury and in place of him, one of Shaw or Gill are likely to play the upcoming series. India will take on New Zealand in the first match of the two-Test series, beginning February 21 at Wellington.