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Rahul, who was added to the India A squad on Wednesday, could only manage to score four runs from four balls before being dismissed by Scott Boland.
KL Rahul could only manage to score 4 runs in the first inning of the 2nd unofficial Test. (Picture Credit: Screengrab)
KL Rahul opened for India A in the second unofficial Test against Australia A, which kicked off at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Thursday (November 7). The right-handed batter, who was added to the India A squad on Wednesday for the second match, could only manage to score four runs from four balls. He was caught by Australia A wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson off Scott Boland’s bowling.
Rahul was the third India A batter to get out in the morning session of the first day’s play. Bengal batter Abhimanyu Easwaran, who is part of India’s 18-member team picked for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was the first batter to return to the pavilion. He was dismissed for a three-ball duck by Michael Nesser. Corey Rocchiccioli completed Easwaran’s catch on the third ball of the first over, and on the next delivery, Nesser accounted for the dismissal of Sai Sudharsan.
Cameron Bancroft caught the left-handed batter for a golden duck. India A had high hopes from Sudharsan after he scored a century in the second inning of the first unofficial Test played in Mackay last week.
Nesser picked up his third wicket of the match on the fourth ball of his second over when he dismissed India A captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. Gaikwad was also caught by Bancroft after making four runs from six balls.
Rahul was added to the India A squad to get some game time ahead of the first Test of the five-match series between India and Australia, but he failed to live up to the expectations. Apart from Rahul, wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel is also playing for India A in the match, and at the end of 15 overs, he was batting on 15 runs from 44 balls.
Jurel replaced Ishan Kishan in India A’s playing XI after the Jharkhand-based wicketkeeper-batter failed to score big runs in the first match, which India A lost by seven wickets.
While Jurel is unlikely to play in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Rahul is in line to play as an opener in Perth in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who is likely to miss the match due to personal reasons.
