Indians 246 for 8 dec (Bharat 70, Walker 5-24) and 364 for 9 (Kohli 67, Jadeja 56*) vs Leicestershire 244 (Pant 76, Jadeja 3-28, Shami 3-42) and 219 for 4 (Gill 62, Kimber 56, Ashwin 2-31) Match drawn
Ashwin didn’t play any of the first four Tests of the series, but looking at how the pitches in England have behaved in the New Zealand series, there could be grounds for Ashwin to play ahead of pace bowling allrounder Shardul Thakur.
The form of the prospective No. 3 batter for India could be a bit of a concern as he looked short of scoring options. His three innings in the match were 3 off 23, 20 off 55 and 26 off 86. However, it can sometimes be unwise to read too much into these numbers: it is possible Vihari was only looking for time in the middle and not necessary scoring runs.
Ashwin showed more good signs in his analysis of 11-2-31-2 as he got one to drop nicely on Leicestershire captain Sam Evans, and then turned it past him to have him stumped.
Across three innings, Bumrah bowled 29 overs for the solitary wicket of Virat Kohli, but this might just be the workout he needed going into the Test. There were precious few clues if you were looking at who might replace Rohit Sharma as captain if required, but if you pressed hard, Bumrah was seen setting fields for a bit.
As for the match, Leicestershire, set to win 367 on the last day, batted through to 219 for 4 in 66 overs before the teams agreed on a draw just after tea. Louis Kimber scored an unbeaten half-century.