Shubman Gill starts India captaincy journey with sparkling knock, KL Rahul hits fifty in India vs India A match
Ever since he landed in England a little more than a week ago, KL Rahul has been in red-hot form with the bat. continued his rich vein of form. After hitting 116 and 51 for India A against England Lions in the second practice match at Northampton, Rahul took another giant step in his preparation for the five-match Test series against England by hitting a half-century in the India vs India A intra-squad warm-up match at Beckenham on Friday.
The four-day warm-up match, which does not have first-class status, is India's last chance of getting a match-like feel before the Test series next week. The Indian team management decided to keep it a closed-door affair, restricting any broadcaster and media personnel at the venue. The only updates from the match came from the social media handles of BCCI after the close of play.
Apart from Rahul's fifty, the biggest silver lining for India was the new captain Shubman Gill's positive performance. Just like Rahul, Gill also scored a half-century while all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who is fighting with Nitish Kumar Reddy for a spot in the XI, picked up wickets.
"Beckenham. A solid Opening Day in the Intra-Squad game! Half-centuries for KL Rahul & Captain Shubman Gill. Shardul Thakur amongst the wickets," posted BCCI.
Gill, who has a poor average of 14.66 in England and has scored just 88 runs in six innings across three matches here with a best score of 28, will take plenty of confidence from his knock.
Thakur, who scored knocks of 27 (in first unofficial Test) and 19 and 34 (in the second unofficial Test) against England Lions and also took two wickets against them, also got some valuable game time as he battles a young Nitish Kumar Reddy for the spot of a pace-bowling all-rounder in the team.
India's first Test against England at Leeds from June 20 will mark the start of a new era under newly-appointed captain Shubman Gill, as he aims to lead a new-look team to glory following the retirements of stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from Tests and Ravichandran Ashwin from international cricket.
The series will be held from June to August 2025, with matches scheduled at Headingley in Leeds, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Lord's and The Oval in London, and Old Trafford in Manchester.
India's Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
21 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2025: Pranati lands bronze in women's vault
Pranati Nayak clinched her third bronze medal in women's vault at the Asian artistic gymnastics championships in Jecheon, Korea, on Saturday. The 30-year-old scored 13.666 and 12.866 in her two attempts to log a total of 13.466 and secure a bronze behind China's Zhang Yihan (13.650) and Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Quynh Nhu (13.583). Earlier, she had medalled in 2019 and 2022. Another Indian, Protistha Samanta, finished fourth with 13.016. Pranati had scored 13.086 to place fourth, while Protistha had recorded 12.716 to take the eighth spot in the qualifying stage. Meanwhile, in the junior women's category, Avantika Negi (10.333) became the first Indian to qualify for the uneven bars final.
Indian Express
25 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Gold winners: Arjun Babuta and Arya Borse beat Chinese to win 10m air rifle mixed team gold in World Cup
A day after Indian shooter Suruchi Phogat became the first Indian to win three ISSF World Cup titles, the Indian pair of Arjun Babuta and Arya Borse emerged as the champions in the 10m air rifle mixed team gold medal. They clinched a 17-7 win over the Chinese Olympics stars Sheng Lihao and Wang Zefei in ISSF Munich world cup on Saturday. Lihao/Zefei had registered a world record score of 635.9 prior to the final ahead of the Indians's 635.2 but the story changed in the final. It was also the first time that Babuta edged out Lihao, though in a team format. 'When such wins come after such high scores in qualification in mixed team format, it gives you a lot of confidence. Sheng Lihao is currently the best 10m air rifle shooter in the world and to beat such a strong mixed team will count as one of our cherished medals. A joyous final,' Babuta told The Indian Express. The Nasik native 22-year-old Borse, who started rifle shooting as she found the pistol to be too small a weapon, had reached the mixed team finals twice this World Cup season pairing up with Rudrankksh Patil. Babuta, 26, had reached the final of the mixed team event in the Cairo world cup last year. Babuta shot a score of 317.7 in qualification, Borse shot 317.5 to qualify for the gold medal against the Chinese pair. 'As compared to Individual events where we get 75 minutes to shoot 60 shots, here we shoot 30 shots each in 30 minutes. Yes, fatigue is less in mixed team qualification but then the margin of error is less,' Babuta spoke about the challenges, saying there is less chance of a comeback in 30 shots. 'One also has to plan the series with fewer breaks without any dry shooting, which helps us in individual rounds,' says Babuta. The previous qualification world record score of 635.8 was held by Patil and Narmada Raju in Cairo World Cup in 2023 and Borse would also talk about how it is different from individual event making to the top four teams to have a chance of a medal. Babuta spoke about how they try to view the mixed-team event as an individual event to help them cope mentally. 'We have to go with the individual shots' mental state of mind here. I cannot control my partner's scores and if I worry about her scores, I would not be able to give my best,' Babuta said. 'In individual events, top eight shooters qualify but in mixed teams, only the top four teams qualify for the medal round,' says Borse. In the final, each pair shoots one shot per series with a combined score determining the series winner that yields two points. The first pair to reach 16 points win the gold. Borse started with a 9.8, Babuta followed it with a 10.6, while Zefei/Lihao came up with 10.4 and 10.1 to take 2-0 lead. But in the next four series, the Indian pair charged ahead to a 8-2 lead. The sixth series was tied at one point each, but soon the Indians were up 13-3. Eventually, the Indians won the 12th series to win the gold 17-7. The Indian pair shot 18 shots of 10.5 or more as compared to the Chinese's 12 shots. 'We do a lot of breathing exercises in between to take our mind away from the total score too,' says Babuta. Overall, in the final, Borse shot a total of 125.7, Babuta made 127, as compared to Zefei's 125.3 and Lihao's 124.7. Starting 2026, ISSF will change the format of the medal matches, with the top four teams in qualification fighting an elimination format. Right now, the top two teams advance to the gold medal match, and third and fourth ranked teams fight for bronze. But national coach Deepali Deshpande sees the strength of individual scores for a pair as the best chance in a newer format too. 'In national camps, we do make them practice in team formats and luckily we have some top ranked individual shooters. Yes, it's a shared responsibility but the shooters are relaxed. The new finals elimination details are not out but I guess it will be a 24 shot format. Even then, the score of the pair will be counted and the mantra is to shoot individually.' Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story 'Harmans of Moga', Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women's cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin's interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More
News18
25 minutes ago
- News18
Watch: Keshav Maharaj Chokes Up After South Africa Win World Test Championship
Last Updated: South Africa ended their ICC title drought by winning the 2025 ICC World Test Championship final against Australia. Keshav Maharaj was teary-eyed after South Africa ended their ICC title drought with a five-wicket victory over Australia to win the 2025 ICC World Test Championship final. The left-arm spinner expressed that winning the coveted Test mace at Lord's was an absolute honour as South Africa broke their 27-year knockout curse to win the ICC World Test Championship for the first time. Keshav Maharaj , the only Indian-origin player to touch the WTC Interview with graham smith can make Even Adult Cry 🥲 Congratulations South Africa 🇿🇦 and Captain Temba For making this History. #WtcFinal2025 #SouthAfrica — Devendra Soni (@DevendraSo37461) June 14, 2025 'It's special, it's an honour to lift the cup for everyone out here and back home. It's what the country's about, the unity among everyone in the last five days. We're very grateful, as a team, as a nation, as a proud country." 'I think the emotions would have spurred me in the right direction had I got into bat. Thanks to everyone who's been supporting us; through adversity, we've stood strong. We honour those who've come before us, and may this be a stepping stone for greater things to come," said Maharaj at the conclusion of the title clash. Left-arm pacer Marco Jansen was left in awe of Aiden Markram's magnificent 136 in the incredible chase. 'Don't know what to say; I was sitting there praying, luckily we got the job done. A lot of nerves in the change room, and a lot of guys are quiet, but to have the crowd cheering every single run, you can't ask for more. Markram was unbelievable, he and Temba took us home. I think that's what dreams are made of. Dreams are meant to be achieved, and we're going to celebrate really, really well." Lungi Ngidi stated that he was speechless about becoming a WTC winner. 'The other evening with that spell was about to break the game open. The excitement kept me going. I can't say much now. I am very proud of what the boys have achieved. It's been a lot of emotions, and the blood pressure is quite high." Kyle Verreynne, who hit the winning runs, said he was just relieved to hit the winning runs for South Africa. 'I'm just relieved – I was sitting there watching the morning session thinking 'I don't want to bat, I don't want to bat!' Obviously, Aiden did beautifully, but walking out to the middle, I was as nervous as I've ever been. You can listen to the whole ground singing. Probably getting a little emotional now. It's incredible." David Bedingham described the winning feeling as 'amazing'. 'Very nervous, but the way Aiden and Temba went about it made us calm. Thank goodness we got over the line. The sun plays a massive factor; we got lucky with the conditions. It's been 27 years, and I am so thankful we got over the line." First Published: June 14, 2025, 20:56 IST
