ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss’ decision to play for Somerset against India paid dividends as he scored 78 on day one at Taunton.
Strauss made just 27 in his last three innings against Sri Lanka and is playing for Somerset due to his own county Middlesex’s lack of fixtures.
And he put together a fluent knock against the tourists, scoring 16 boundaries in his 98-ball innings.
It is a timely boost for Strauss ahead of Thursday’s first Test at Lord’s.
Particular concerns had been raised over his batting against left-arm seamers after he fell to Chanaka Welagedera three times in that series, but he showed little signs of trouble against Zaheer Khan as he dominated an opening stand of 101 with Arul Suppiah.
Spinner Amit Mishra eventually dismissed Strauss, but the runs will be invaluable to the skipper ahead of Thursday’s first Test as England look to overhaul India and become the world’s top-ranked Test team.
“It was an honour to bat with the England captain and he looked in very good nick to me,” said Suppiah.
“He was moving his feet really well and striking the ball out of the middle. I’d definitely back him to get runs in the Tests because he left the ball well, hit straight very effectively and looked hungry for a big score.”
India, who wrapped up a 1-0 Test series win in the Caribbean last week, left captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, batsman VVS Laxman and spinner Harbhajan Singh out of their side for the warm-up game.
The trio played in all three Tests against the West Indies and the selectors opted to give them a breather ahead of the series, which starts with the historic 2 000th Test match at Lord’s.
England go into the contest on the back of a 1-0 Test series win over Sri Lanka and a 3-2 victory in the one-day internationals. (BBC Sport)