Gill, Rahul score fifties in intra-squad practice match against India A ahead of England Test

Beckenham [UK], June 13 (ANI): Indian skipper Shubman Gill and KL Rahul were among the runs while Shardul Thakur delivered a solid performance with the ball on Day 1 of the intra-squad match between the Indian senior side and India A at Beckenham on Friday.

The official X handle of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted some pictures from the match.

"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.

https://x.com/BCCI/status/1933582275452584164

KL Rahul had also slammed scores of 116 and 51 during the second unofficial Test against England Lions at Northampton.

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. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)