India A’s tour games against England Lions, comprising two four-day matches, concluded on Monday. Both fixtures—played in Canterbury and Northampton—ended in draws. But more than the results, the matches held significance for the 19 Indian players involved. For 12 of them, it was a chance to prove their mettle in foreign conditions and make a case to the BCCI selection committee. For the remaining seven, it served as valuable preparation for the upcoming five-match Test series in Englandstarting June 20.
Although the India A team will remain in England for one final tour match—an intra-squad game against the Shubman Gill-led side in Beckenham starting next Monday (June 16)—seven players from the squad have now joined the senior team. These include Karun Nair, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Nitish Reddy, Dhruv Jurel, and Shardul Thakur. Ahead of the final preparatory game, here’s a look at how these players have geared up for the England Test series.
Karun Nair poised for No. 4 role: The veteran batter is not only set to make a return to the Indian Test XI for the firs time in eight years, but is poised for the vacant No. 4 role, which had belonged to Virat Kohli until his retirement last month. Earning a call up after his record-breaking Ranji Trophy show last season, Nair vindicated Ajit Agarkar’s move with a double century in the first game, where he batted at No. 3, followed by scores of 40 and 15 at No. 4 in the second match.
KL Rahul a big positive: The India star, who had a breakout campaign in Australia as an opener, was not initially part of the India A squad, until he reportedly made a request to the selectors to get him in after his IPL campaign ended early. Rahul utilised the chance to quickly get into the groove with a century in the first innings for the second match, followed by a fifty.
However, Jaiswal, who is all set for his first Test appearance in England, showed signs of vulnerability against the moving ball. He managed 107 runs in four innings, with one score of fifty. Easwaran, on the other hand, the India A captain and the back-up opener for India, had a decent outing with a fifty each in both games, as he amassed 167 runs.
Thakur vs Reddy: Unfortunately, neither made a compelling case to make the playing XI. Reddy was the frontrunner in the battle of the all-rounders, after his performance in Australia, but despite the English conditions being more suitable to his pace-bowling variety, he struggled to get breakthroughs, managing just two wickets in two matches, while scoring 135 runs in four innings, including a fifty. Thakur, on the other hand, who had lost the race to make the Indian team for the Australia tour to the Andhra star last October, needed runs to make his case, but managed just 80 runs in three innings. More worryingly, his bowling failed to trouble the batters. In the first match, he picked up two wickets, but failed to get his name in the scoresheet in the second game.
