As part of hosting India for their four-day tour game, Leicestershire showcased plenty of Indian culture through bhangra and dance to make the visitor feel more at home. And during the fourth day of the match, which ended in a draw, Leicestershire head coach Paul Nixon and Phillip Defreitas – both former England internationals – joined in the celebrations with the performers. As the speakers at the Uptonsteel County Ground blared the Queen classic ‘We Will Rock You’, Nixon and Defreitas tried to play along with the beats on the performers’ dhols.
Watch: Paul Nixon and Phillip Defreitas play ‘We Will Rock You’ on dhols
Head coach steals the show
Head coach @Paulnico199 & England legend @cricketdaffy are a vibe.
#IndiaTourMatch | #LEIvIND | #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/p4xjdl4fYy
— Leicestershire Foxes (@leicsccc) June 26, 2022
The tour match, which was part of India’s preparations for the rescheduled fifth Test against England in Birmingham, ended in a draw.
The match saw several Indian players turn out for Leicestershire, while some like Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill batted for both sides.
Half-centuries from Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Gill and Ravindra Jadeja were the highlights for the Indian team from the tour game.
However, they received a blow in the form of captain Rohit Sharma testing positive for COVID-19 on the penultimate day of the match.
He is in isolation and remains a doubt for the Test against England.
KL Rahul, who picked up an injury ahead of India’s T20I series against South Africa earlier in the month, is also a doubt for the match, leaving India potentially without their first choice opening pair.
Rohit and Rahul were both crucial for the team in the series when India took a 2-1 lead last year. While Rohit Sharma hit a century at the Oval, Rahul had his name written on the Lord’ honours board with a fantastic ton of his own.
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The fifth Test was postponed last year due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.
The match will now be played at Edgbaston from July 1-5.
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