Beckenham, June 14 (IANS) India pacer Prasidh Krishna said that the opening day of the intra-squad match at Kent County Cricket Ground was a great experience for the players to get some game time ahead of the five-match Test series against England, starting on June 20.

After the arrival of the full Indian squad in England, this is the first time that the touring party is getting the game time together in the ongoing four-day practice game. Previously, Indian squad members including Karun Nair, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur and KL Rahul (only second) took part in two unofficial Tests against England Lions.

“It’s really important for all of us to get this game time… because some of them are coming from the ‘A’ game. Getting time on the field is really important. That’s what happened today as well,” Prasidh told bcci.tv.

“Looks like a good, nice, hard pitch. Bowlers have been in the game throughout, bowling some really good spells. Batsmen also showed character. It’s always good when you are competing against each other.

“All of us are excited and enjoying what’s happening. We are all getting together after a while, sharing memories and cricket experiences from different teams. We just try to keep the environment light,” he added after the opening day’s play on Friday.

The 29-year-old pacer feels that focusing on longer periods is key to success in red-ball format and the squad needs to work in tandem to achieve it.

“(You have to) make sure you are focused when your chance is coming. But you can’t really be focused for a long time, especially when you are sitting outside, so you make sure you have a bit of fun,” Prasidh said.

“When you know, you can sense the situation; you make sure you support your team at particular moments, making sure you are switched on because anything can happen in the game that’s the beauty of cricket itself. I think all of us are experienced enough to know when to switch on and switch off.”

Captain Shubman Gill and senior wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul both scored half-centuries while Shardul Thakur took wickets on the opening day of the intra-squad match, BCCI posted on social media.

–IANS

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