India bowlers struggle as Angus Robson and Greg Smith hundreds earn Leicestershire a draw

Ishant Sharma pulled a pair of wickets on Day 3 of their tour match but for the most part India struggled to dismiss the county batsmen as the match was declared a draw.

Ishant Sharma shown during the third day of India's tour match with Leicestershire on Saturday in Leicester, England. Paul Ellis / AFP / June 28, 2014

A week after his older brother Sam made his maiden Test hundred for England against Sri Lanka, Angus Robson showed centuries run in the family by reaching three figures for Leicestershire against India on Saturday.

India’s bowlers were given the run-around by Robson (126) and Greg Smith (101) in a second-wicket stand of 221 before both retired at tea, that took Leicestershire to 349 for five before a draw was agreed on the final day of three at Grace Road.

The one consolation for India was that if ever there was game to get the rust out of the system, this was probably it, as they had already declared on 333 for four on the first day of the opening game of their tour before rain washed out the second.

Experienced seamer Ishant Sharma, set to be a key member of India’s attack in the upcoming five-Test series with England, saw 41 runs scored off his first four wicketless overs, a spell that included six no-balls.

The 22-year-old Angus Robson, watched by his Australia-born father and English-born mother Rosamunde, as was Sam at Headingley, gave his parents a fresh reason to be glad they didn’t go home to Sydney after their older son’s disappointing Test debut at Lord’s.

The Leicestershire opener was quickly into his work with all of his 11 boundaries in a run-a-ball 50 coming off Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the new ball.

He carried on in similar fashion to race to a hundred in just 102 balls with 20 fours.

But the only downside for the Robson clan was that Angus was denied a maiden first-class hundred for Leicestershire when India stripped the match of its status by opting to use all 18 members of their squad, while only batting 11.

India did manage an early wicket when Pankaj Singh, the pick of the seven seamers in their Test squad who all bowled Saturday, had Robson’s opening partner Matthew Boyce brilliantly caught one-handed and above his head by third slip Ajinkya Rahane.

Smith, though, enured there was no respite for India’s bowlers, completing a run-a-ball century with successive straight sixes off Ravindra Jadeja.

Both batsmen retired at tea but Dan Redfern (58) helped keep the runs coming before he was caught off Sharma at mid-wicket.

Angus Robson, speaking on Friday, said he hoped one day he too would face the same choice between England and Australia that confronted Sam, as it would indicate he was enjoying a successful career.

“If I keep doing well, which I hope I do, maybe in another few years I might be closer to having to make a decision like that,” he said.

India’s bowlers will look for an improved performance in their second and final warm-up fixture against Derbyshire before they make the short journey to Nottingham for the first Test at Trent Bridge starting on July 9.

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