Team India on Thursday played its last practice game against Western Australia in Perth. The likes of Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were not named in the playing XI while KL Rahul took the charge of the team. The stand-in skipper played a superb knock of 74 runs in just 55 balls, with the help of 9 boundaries and 2 sixes, but couldn’t save his team from a 36-defeat. While chasing 169, the Men in Blue were restricted to 132/8 in 20 overs.
The Indian side may have lost their second practice game against the local team, but fast bowler Arshdeep Singh made a few Indian fans happy with his heart-warming gesture. Some of the Team India supporters asked the left-arm quick for his autograph on a cricket bat. The youngster obliged and fulfilled their demand. One of the spectators was filming the video which later surfaced on social media.
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The elated Indian fan could be heard cheering in joy and thanking Arshdeep for his autograph.
Checkout the video:
Arshdeep Singh signing the bat of a cricket fan, nice gesture from the star of bowling, he is truly a favorite of Indian fans. pic.twitter.com/UoUwNvuhqu
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 13, 2022
After Western Australia XI made 168/6 in their 20 overs, India could get only 132/8 in 20 overs, with Rah’l’s 74 comprising nine fours and two sixes. The next best score in India’s innings, in which Rohit Sharma (though he was the captain), Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav did not bat, was 17 by Hardik Pandya and 10 by Dinesh Karthik.
India will now move to Brisbane where they will play two warm-up matches against defending champions Australia on October 17 and last year’s runners-up New Zealand on October 19.
They will open their T20 World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), followed by matches on October 27 (against the first qualifier side at SCG), October 30 (against South Africa at Perth Stadium), November 2 (against Bangladesh at Adelaide Oval) and November 6 (against second qualifier side at MCG).
(With Agency Inputs)
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