India A posted 319/7 at stumps on Day 1 of the second unofficial Test against England Lions.
It was a mixed day one of the second unofficial Test against England Lions for India in Northampton, with the visitors posting 319/7 at stumps after being asked to bat.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (17) and Abhimanyu Easwaran (11) failed to convert starts, whereas KL Rahul (116), Karun Nair (40) and Dhruv Jurel (52) played vital knocks. The unofficial Test series between England Lions and India A is a preparatory series for the visitors ahead of the five-match Test series between hosts England and India that starts from June 20.
Let’s now take a look at some key highlights from Day 1 of the second unofficial Test between England Lions ad India A:
Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed in a controversial fashion by Chris Woakes on Friday. Chris Woakes struck Yashasvi Jaiswal LBW in the seventh over of India A’s first innings.
The ball from Woakes was swinging onto Yashasvi Jaiswal’s bat and the latter attempted to play the flick shot on this occasion. However, the ball ended up hitting the batter’s pads and Jaiswal was declared out. The Mumbai batter was visibly miffed with his dismissal as he gestured to the umpire that the ball ended up going down the leg stump.
However, Jaiswal was helpless because of thefact that there is no Decision Review System (DRS) in use for this fixture.
KL Rahul made a strong statement as an opener after he scored a 150-ball century against England Lions on Friday. KL Rahul forged an 86-run stand with Karun Nair for the third wicket before the former was dismissed in the 34th over. KL Rahul then combined a 121-run partnership with Dhruv Jurel for the fourth wicket.
This century will definitely boost the Karnataka batter’s confidence going into the Tests against England. Talking about his Tests in England, KL Rahul has scored 614 runs from nine matches at an average of 34.11, including two centuries.
Chris Woakes produced a brilliant spell of 3/50 to lead England Lions’ bowling attack against India A on Friday. He was the pick of the bowlers and first got rid of Yashasvi Jaiswal in the seventh over before removing Abhimanyu Easwaran in the 11th over. It was Chris Woakes who broke the 86-run stand of Karun Nair and KL Rahul with the dismissal of the former in the 34th over.
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India will have to be wary of the threat that Chris Woakes possesses. The all-rounder has decent numbers against India in Tests, having taken 23 wickets from nine Tests while also scoring 320 runs that includes a century.
Another interesting mini battle for a spot in the India playing XI for the Test series against England will be between Karun Nair and Dhruv Jurel.
After having scored 94 and 53* in the first match, Dhruv Jurel scored another fifty (52) on Friday.
Karun Nair too impressed in the first game, scoring a fine double century before scoring 40 runs in the first innings of the second match against England Lions.
It would be difficult to leave both of them out of the India playing XI against England, but there might come a situation wherein only one makes the cut.
Dhruv Jurel is in direct competition with Rishabh Pant for a spot in the playing XI. Karun, on the other hand, could bat one down with skipper Shubman Gill bats at number four. Rishabh Pant would then bat at number five, and he will be followed by the all-rounders Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ravindra Jadeja before the lower-order batters come into play.
It’s safe to say that the Indian team management have a happy selection headache and it will be interesting to see how and if Dhruv Jurel makes the final playing XI.
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