India v Somerset At Taunton: Suresh Raina Century Only Positive For Lacklustre India

So the Indians did have something to cheer about on the third and the final day of the warm-up game against Somerset. At the very beginning of the day, India had Suresh Raina slapping a superb century on a rather flat Taunton pitch, while the day ended with the Indian opening pair of Gautam Gambhir and Abhinav Mukund going unseparated in their 69-run stand in the second innings.

Between the two performances, it was business as usual for Somerset, who nicked 260 runs off the 41 overs sent down by a hapless Indian bowling attack that included figures of 2/123 off 14 overs for Amit Mishra. Andrew Strauss scored a century, his second score over 50 in the game, while Peter Trego tore the Indians apart with an 85 from 57 balls.

There isn’t much that the Indians can take away from the game, except for Raina’s batting. At the start of the warm-up game, Raina would have fancied himself as a frontrunner to make it to the number six position in the first Test match, ahead of Yuvraj Singh. However, had Yuvraj got off to a good start and Raina failed in this match, things could have got difficult – both for Raina and the team management.

Raina’s century has now ensured that he will pip Yuvraj to the post and make it to the playing eleven.

The other decision that now seems taken by the Indian management is to with the bowling line-up. With none of the Indian bowlers bowling themselves into reckoning, it only means that they will go in with Zaheer Khan (who did not bowl in the second innings), Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma, with Harbhajan Singh as their sole spinner.

On the other hand, the Indian openers, Gambhir and Mukund, Virender Sehwag’s replacement, will be happy with their second innings show. Sehwag’s absence will be a major factor, with a few experts having already written the team off because of his fitness issues. However, they batted with much confidence to get 69 in the second innings and will go to Lord’s with some confidence behind their back.

The first India-England Test at Lord’s begins from July 21.