Four-Nation Tournament: India and France play out a 2-2 draw
India played out a 2-2 draw with France in the second friendly match of their South Africa tour at the WP Cricket Club on Wednesday, January 24.
India made a couple of changes to their lineup, replacing Abhishek and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay with Mandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh, respectively. The substitutes, however, remained the same as in the previous encounter against France.
India's line-up consisted of captain Harmanpreet Singh, goalkeeper Pawan Malik, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Sumit, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Hardik Singh, Shamsher Singh, Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, and Gurjant Singh.
The substitutes included goalkeeper Sreejesh PR, Sanjay, Jugraj Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rabchandra Singh Morangthem, Sukhjeet Singh, and Araijeet Singh Hundal.
Mandeep Singh opened the scoring for India as he found the back of the net in the eighth minute. India then doubled their lead through Amit Rohidas in the 19th minute as they went into the half-time break with a 2-0 lead.
Timothee Clement reduced the deficit for France in the 37th minute to keep his team's hopes alive. In the 59th minute, B Gaspard found the back of the net as France equalized. The match eventually ended in a 2-2 draw.
India will next lock horns with hosts South Africa in a Test on Friday, January 26, before taking on the Netherlands in a friendly on Sunday, January 28.
South Africa Tour Preparation Series: Full List of Fixtures & Match Timings (All Timings in IST)
Saturday, January 20
Friendly - South Africa vs France, 7:30 pm
Monday, January 22
Friendly - India vs France, 2:30 pm
Only Test - South Africa vs Netherlands, 11:15 pm
Wednesday, January 24
Friendly - India vs France, 2:30 pm
Friday, January 26
Friendly - Netherlands vs France, 8:00 pm
Only Test - South Africa vs India, 9:30 pm
Sunday, January 28
Friendly - Netherlands vs India, 2:00 pm
Friendly - South Africa vs France, 9:00 pm