KL Rahul falls for 4, Jurel hits 80 after BCCI include them for India A

In what is being touted as a move to strengthen the Indian batting ahead of India’s Test tour of Australia that begins on November 22, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to add KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel to the India A squad for the second first-class game against Australia A that began on Thursday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Rahul is, it can be surmised, being considered as an opener for the first Test against Australia at the Optus Park in Perth since Rohit Sharma is unlikely to feature in it due to family commitments.

Jurel could also be considered in expert wicketkeeper’s role after Rishabh Pant was found wanting in that area in the recent Test series against New Zealand. Pant could play Tests purely as a batsman. Alternately, Jurel could be drafted in as a batsman.

However, Rahul had a poor start in the second game against Australia A. He was dismissed for just four, dismissed by Scott Boland. Jurel was successful as he scored 80. India A folded for 161. Australia A ended Day 1 on 53/2.

Earlier, Prasidh Krishna was added to the squad as replacement for Yash Dayal, who was named in India’s T20I squad for the tour of South Africa.

India A squad for 2nd first-class game: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Abhimanyu Easwaran (vice-captain), Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Baba Indrajith, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Abishek Porel (wicketkeeper), Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini, Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper).

Tags : KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, India A, Australia A, MCG, Cricket