KL Rahul did not do his chances of finding a place in the Indian XI for the opening Test against Australia any good when he gotdismissed in a bizarre fashion on the second day of IndiaA’s ‘unofficial Test’ against Australia A.
While the other Indian batters too struggled — the visitors, who were shot out for 161 in their first innings, were 73/5 in their second essay whenthe stumps were drawn on Friday — it was Rahul who stole the spotlight, though for the wrong reasons.
A tossed-up delivery from rising Aussie off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli, who has played just 27 first-class matches, was completely misjudged by Rahul, who carries the experience of more than 200 international matches across formats. The Indian offered no shot, the ball ricocheted off his pads and slipped through between his legs before crashing onto the stumps.
Rahul, who scored only 4 in India A’s first innings, managed a score of 10 this time.
However, he still has hopes of getting the nod as Abhimanyu Easwaran, the other contender for a place in the Indian team if skipper Rohit Sharma skips the opening Test, did not fare any better. The Bengal batter followed his first-innings duck witha 17 from 31 balls in thesecond essay.
The India A top-order not only struggled to handle pace, but also against spin.
At stumps, wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel (19 batting) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (9 batting) were at the crease.
The Indian bowlers, however, fared better.
Led by Prasidh Krishna’s four-wicket burst and Mukesh Kumar’s three-wicket haul, the Indian pacers kept acheck on Australia A, who were all out for 223 in their first innings.
Marcus Harris was the standout batter for Australia A, scoring a gritty 74 off 138 balls, while Rocchiccioli provided the fireworks lower down the order, hitting 35 off 28 balls, including two sixes and three fours.
