India team head coach Rahul Dravid talked about his team’s performance in the recent four-day practice game against Leicestershire at Grace road ground.
Before the start of play on Day 4, India declared on their overnight second innings total of 364 for seven. Half-centuries by Shreyas Iyer (62), Ravindra Jadeja (56*), and Virat Kohli (67) helped them set a target of 367 runs. Chasing the target on Day 4, the hosts reached 219 for four in 66 overs as Louis Kimber (58*) and Joey Evison (15*) remained unbeaten.
Initially, India had declared after posting 264 for eight in their first innings, followed by Leicestershire reaching 244.
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The match turned out to be net practice for the Indian team as many of their batters like Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, and Ravindra Jadeja batted twice in the same innings, while Cheteshwar Pujara batted for both sides, India and Leicestershire, and India's net bowlers also had a chance to bowl.
Leicestershire Twitter handle shared a video of Rahul Dravid talking about the practice match.
The former India captain stated, “I think whatever we needed to achieve and whatever boxes we needed to tick in terms of our preparation leading into the Test match on Friday, I think we are very satisfied and happy, we have been able to do that this week”
“The ground's been excellent so yes it's been a great week and just finally on the practice wicket as well. It really helps you adapt to English conditions. That's always hard. Isn't it to come over and adapt to how to play in England. When you especially, when you've got just one game or you know it's a one-off game in a series.”
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“It's not really a lot of time until you've got to hit the ground running hard and you've got to be able to hopefully get your act together right from the first day of the test match”, he further added.
The 49-year-old also praised the 'atmosphere and vibe' in the venue.
"I thought you know everyone's really looked after us really well. It's been great crowds you know, it's really lovely to see so many people come to watch the game like this and just the atmosphere and the vibe", he said.
India will face off against England in the fifth and final Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham, from July 1, with India leading the series 2-1 and England needing nothing less than a win to draw level.
(Hindustan Times/PTI inputs)
