Shikhar Dhawan grabs a pair as India draw against Essex

Shikhar Dhawan

India failed to bowl out county side Essex in 94 overs before Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara suffered another batting failure on the final day of the one-off practice game, leaving the visitors with plenty to ponder ahead of the first Test. Essex, resuming Day Three at 237-5, went on to frustrate the Indians for 36 overs before declaring at 359-8, 36 short of the visitors' effort in the first innings. The play on the final day was called off one and a half hours before the scheduled 6pm local time due to rain, with India reaching 89-2 in 21.2 overs.

The away team would have been heading to Birmingham, the venue of the first Test, in a much better space if two of its key batsmen Dhawan and Pujara had gotten some runs under their belt. However, it was not to be as Dhawan departed without scoring for the second time in the match while Pujara perished after scoring 23 off 35 balls. Lokesh Rahul made a strong case for selection in the series opener with an unbeaten 36, following his 58 in the first innings. Perhaps the biggest news of the day, however, came in the pre-lunch session when R Ashwin (0-21) bowled five overs.

He overcame the minor finger injury sustained in the nets on Thursday and took the field for a first time in three days. India's pacers all had a good workout on Day Three as well, with Hardik Pandya (0-54) and Ishant Sharma (3-59) sharing the second new ball. The stand out bowler for India in this game was Umesh Yadav who took 4-35 and always found enough movement to trouble the Essex batsmen.

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