Strauss, a Middlesex player, is representing Somerset in a one-off contest to help him recapture lost confidence and get a first-hand glimpse of what India have to offer. And he was handed an immediate opportunity to gauge the threat of India's bowling attack after Somerset won the toss and elected to bat first.

Strauss, whose batting has been poor of late after low scores in the recent Test series victory against Sri Lanka, made hay in the Taunton sun, reached his fifty off just 63 balls before finally falling for 78, caught behind by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha off Amit Mishra. India are without rested skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, but have included the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Ghambir, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel in their side. And it was the Strauss v Zaheer contest that had most pundits licking their lips. Strauss has issues with left-arm seamers and Zaheer is the best in the business.