Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy fighting for the lone seamer all-rounder's slot in the Test team were way below par against a dogged England Lions batting unit that ended the third day's play at 527 for 7 with the opening four-day game against India A meandering towards a tame draw.

Seamer Mukesh Kumar's (3/75 in 21 overs) morning spell with the old Dukes was the only highlight in an otherwise mediocre bowling effort from India here on Sunday.

It lacked necessary penetration required to make inroads on a docile track and Abhimanyu Easwaran's captaincy just like his batting left a lot to be desired.