Mumbai: Skipper Ajinkya Rahane struck a dominating 91 to help India A trounce England XI by six wickets in the second 50-over warm-up match in Mumbai on Thursday.
Chasing 283 for victory, India A rode on the 119-run opening stand with Rahane and Sheldon Jackson (59) to race to their target in 39.4 overs.
India A, who lost their opening game to the Eoin Morgan-led side on Tuesday, made the English bowlers toil at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium.
Rahane, coming off a long injury lay-off, smashed 10 fours and a six during his 83-ball knock as the India A top-order came good.
Earlier opting to bat first, England were bowled out for 282 in 48.5 overs with Jonny Bairstow top-scoring with 64 runs. India off-spinner Pervez Rasool claimed three wickets.
After a good start the visitors dramatically collapsed from 161-1 to 211-9 before Adil Rashid (39) and number 11 David Willey (38 not out) put together a 71-run 10th-wicket partnership to stage a fightback.
Opener Jason Roy (25) was out hit wicket after pacer Pradeep Sangwan’s delivery struck the back of his helmet flap and the extra protective gear fell on the stumps as the bails were dislodged.
Alex Hales scored a well-made 51 but Morgan, who made three in the first warm-up, once again failed with the bat after registering a first-ball zero.
The two sides now head to Pune for the first of the three one-day internationals starting Sunday before the sides play three Twenty20 matches.
Meanwhile, M S Dhoni had a phenomenal career as captain and one of the highlights of his leadership was the apt handling of senior players in the team, current India coach Anil Kumble — who himself had made way for the wicket-keeper batsman to be Test captain in 2008 — has said.
Dhoni succeeded Kumble as Test captain after the leg-spin legend announced his retirement midway into the home series against Australia in 2008.
Kumble recalled the time when Dhoni was made captain in all three formats.
“The first phase was probably easy for me because I was old, it was easy for me to say ‘MS take over’. It was difficult for me to continue at that time, the body was not willing but I thought it was the right time for me to leave as well. MS (Dhoni) was ready to take over Test captaincy,” said Kumble ahead of the first ODI against England on Sunday.
Dhoni’s glorious tenure as captain began with the World T20 triumph in 2007.
“From there to 2007 to 2017, 10 years of captaincy is phenomenal. It goes to show the capabilities of MS as a leader and also what he has been able to achieve during the transition phase and also when the seniors left as well, it is not easy coming into the team as captain and having so many senior players. He managed them really well.
“He (Dhoni) not just got the best out of them but also got the best for the team. Both as number one Test side and later on winning the World Cup and then Champions Trophy and many other victories, he has been part of,” he said referring to the time when the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid played under Dhoni.
Kumble lauded Dhoni for the timing of stepping down from captaincy.
“In this team, besides Yuvi, everybody else has started their careers under MS. So that is the kind of transition he has seen. It has been phenomenal to be able to achieve what he has been able to achieve. We all know the value that he brings as a player and as a batsman and keeper and of course his value on the field.
“It is never easy to take a call. Hats off to him. That shows how selfless he is and he probably thought it was the right time for Virat to take over. Like how I felt back then it was the right time for MS to come in, it is great for the team to have MS on the field with Virat leading the side.
“Like I mentioned, Virat came into the side when MS was captain, so the bonhomie and bond that they shared will only help Virat grow as a leader. And Virat has shown the exceptional quality he has and what he brings to the team, both as an individual and leader. We have seen the results under him in Test format and I am sure he will be equally good in one-day format,” said Kumble.
He said Dhoni remains a leader in the team.
“MS has been one of the best captains that we have had. Hats off to him and congratulations to him for what he has done as captain. Now looking forward to MS as the batsman and keeper and as a leader. He is still a leader in the team,” Kumble added.
Brief Scores:
England XI 282 all out in 48.5 overs (J. Bairstow 64, D. Willey 38 not out; P. Rasool 3-38)
India A 283-4 in 39.4 overs (A. Rahane 91, R. Pant 59; M. Ali 1-46)
