Essex vs India: Shikhar Dhawan's struggles continue against the swinging ball

Team India is currently playing the three-day warm-up game against Essex in order to gear themselves up for the five-match Test series against England. They have struggled in the United Kingdom in the last few years and have managed to win only a solitary Test match in the last couple of tours. This time around they are expected to make a mark and beat the favourites hosts. But their opener Shikhar Dhawan’s failure to get off the mark in the practice game against Essex has raised more doubts in the mind of the fans.

The visitors have trimmed the four-day match into three days to reach Birmingham early which is the venue for the first Test match. They won the toss and opted to bat first hoping to test themselves against the moving ball early on. But the flamboyant batsman Dhawan continued to struggle in alien conditions and was dismissed for a golden duck.

Dhawan edges the ball to the keeper

Shikhar Dhawan came on strike off the third ball of the first over as Matt Coles ran in to bowl at him. The ball pitched at the off-stump and tailed back only a little bit which left the batsman stranded in the crease. Dhawan’s feet were unmoved and he inside edged the ball to the wicket-keeper James Foster. His tentativeness proved that he is yet to come to the terms with the moving cherry which has raised the questions on him opening the innings in the series.

It is a three-day encounter and it looks unlikely that he will get another opportunity to prove himself. As it stands now, the left-hander might step into the Test series with no great match practice with the red ball.

Cheteshwar Pujara was also sent back early by the same bowler as India were reduced to 5/2. But the duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay have batted well since then. However, both of them have been dropped once so far in the 34-run partnership and the visitors will have to deal with some serious issues in the next few days.

Here’s the video of Dhawan’s dismissal:

📽️ Matt Coles strikes after just 3 balls as Dhawan is caught behind by Foster#ESSvIND pic.twitter.com/SC9RaitUIi

— Essex Cricket (@EssexCricket) July 25, 2018

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