India A have drawn both the matches against England Lions
India A have tested the waters before their five-match Test series against England with two games against England Lions which have been more or less fruitful.
The team carrying multiple important players from the main squad had a decent outing against the Lions, who had fielded a side without the big names of the main squad as England were engaged in a white-ball series against West Indies.
While the hosts have multiple headaches due to injuries in their pace department, India have looked just a touch over good in the two four-day games.
We look at four takeaways for India after these matches.
Karun Nair’s return to international cricket after eight long years is the consequence of multiple heartbreaks and piles of runs he amassed in domestic cricket during this period. The selectors could’ve looked to him for the shadow tour for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, but waited until the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to call up Nair again.
The 33-year-old proved his worth straightaway with a superb double century in Canterbury. Even though the pitch was flat and the conditions were warm, Nair’s process of playing every ball with the intensity and focus set him apart from the rest of the batters. His county experience adds to his case for selection in three Tests if not all five of them. Head coach Gautam Gambhir more or less confirmed Nair’s inclusion in the playing XI before leaving for the UK when he said that the team will giving him multiple opportunities.
Kamboj has been in the spotlight for close to a year due to his one spell against Kerala where he claimed all 10 wickets in a single innings. He didn’t make a big splash in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 as he was expected, but the shadow tour proved that the 24-year-old is very much the type of medium-pacer India needs in order to build for the future.
ALSO READ:
Kamboj dealt with the new Dukes ball brilliantly, often weaponising the wobble seam and keeping his lines tight. Even when things were going against him, he relied on discipline and accuracy which made him the most economical bowler among the Indians. Even though economy is an overlooked stat in red-ball cricket, sometimes it can tell you how focused a bowler can be in tough conditions. Kamboj’s Test cap might be coming sooner than expected.
It is a hot take, but India will do just fine even without Sarfaraz Khan. The Mumbaikar is a run-machine in the domestic circuit and has a year or so to find his feet in international cricket, but it isn’t going to happen in England. Sarfaraz has the potential and hunger, but still seems to be struggling with nerves when he is with the national team.
Making 92 with ease under the warm sun in Canterbury was just muscle memory for Sarfaraz but he didn’t look ready for the litmus test of playing on English soil. Few more shadow tours or more chances in sub-continental conditions should get the youngster ready for the big stage.
Chris Woakes, who played the second game in Northampton, said that he expects the replacements of now-retired Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to be tough on the home team and that might be the case. And it is no way looking at the glut of injuries to their pace department (Josh Tongue being the latest after the Northampton game). Jofra Archer has looked sharp in the last few months, but rushing him for the second Test might not happen given his value to this England side. Even with Archer in full flow, Indian batters are a tough bunch to break.
KL Rahul seems to have switched on his zen mode, while Yashasvi Jaiswal seems to be just one sledge away from getting fired up. Dhruv Jurel has looked so fluent at times that he could make the playing XI purely as a batter while Nitish Kumar Reddy seems primed for one big knock in the lower middle-order. There are more than a few in-form batters that didn’t feature against the Lions which makes the task tougher for England’s bowlers.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
