Senior batsman Manish Pandey scored a half-century for Shikhar Dhawan XI while flamboyant Suryakumar Yadav smashed a quick-fire 50 odd for Bhuvneshwar Kumar XI in an intra-squad T20 simulation game at the SSC ground on Monday.
India Intrasquad match
However, the star of Dhawan’s XI was Manish Pandey who struck 63 – the highest individual score of the innings on a hot and punishing day. It was his effort that guided the team to a decent 154.
Bhuvneshwar was the pick of his team’s bowlers ending with figures of 2/23 from his quota of four overs.
The recap with a twist 🔀
Paras Mhambrey takes the 9⃣0⃣-seconds match-rewind ⏪ challenge 😎 😎
Watch NOW ⌛️ 🎥#TeamIndia #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/UTpRH0V9ug
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 5, 2021
In reply, powered by a fifty from Suryakumar Yadav, Bhuvneshwar’s men sailed to the target without breaking a sweat. The foundation of the successful chase was laid by the opening pair of Devdutt Padikkal and Prithvi Shaw as they added 60-odd runs.
Paras Mhambrey, the bowling coach for the tour, summarized the contest in a video shared by BCCI on its social media handles.
“The two nominated captains from today’s game were Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Shikhar won the toss and elected to bat first. His team managed to score 150-odd in the allotted 20 overs.
There were useful contributions from Ruturaj Gaikwad, who scored 30-odd runs, and Manish Pandey, the highest scorer with 63. It was a very hot day, a hard day, and everyone appreciated Manish for his contribution,” Mhambrey said.
“Bhuvi’s (Bhuvneshwar) team could manage to chase that easily in the 17th over, with Suryakumar who got fifty-plus. There were a couple of useful contributions from Devdutt and Prithvi Shaw as well, putting up a 60-run opening partnership,” he added.
Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, India are set to play with 2 squads — Dhawan’s limited-overs squad and Virat Kohli‘s Test side — at the same time. India will play 3 ODIs and as many T20Is from July 13 to 25 while the Test specialists will take on England in a 5-Test series from August 4.
