KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel included in India A squad for second unofficial match with an eye on Test series against Australia

With an eye on India’s upcoming five-match Test series against Australia, the BCCI Men’s Selection Committee on Wednesday included KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel to the India A squad for the second unofficial Test against Australia A. The second unofficial Test will take place in Melbourne from Thursday (7 November).

“The Men’s Selection Committee have added Mr KL Rahul and Mr Dhruv Jurel to the India A squad for the second first-class game against Australia A starting on Thursday at the MCG, Melbourne. Earlier, Mr Prasidh Krishna was added to the squad as a replacement for Yash Dayal, who was named in India’s T20I squad for the tour of South Africa,” a BCCI press release said on Wednesday.

KL Rahul likely to open for India A: Report

According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, Rahul is likely to open for India A against Australia A in the second match. With regular skipper Rohit Sharma reportedly likely to miss one of the first two Tests against Australia, the team management could be preparing Rahul to play as an opener should Rohit not play. The report also adds that Dhruv Jurel could take over wicketkeeping duties from Ishan Kishan for the second unofficial Test. Australia A had beaten India A by seven wickets in the first unofficial Test in Mackay last week.

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Despite being part of the India Test squad for the recently-concluded home series against New Zealand, Jurel did not play any of the Tests against the Kiwis. Rahul, on the other hand, played only the first Test against the Kiwis in Bengaluru, where he endured scores of 0 and 12. He was subsequently dropped from the India playing XI for the second and third Tests in Pune and Mumbai respectively.

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy series is scheduled to begin with the first Test in Perth from 22 November. Rohit wasn’t “too sure” of playing the first Test. “Right now I am not too sure whether I will be going, but let’s see. Fingers crossed,” Rohit told reporters after India’s 25-run loss to New Zealand in the third Test in Mumbai.

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The five-match Test series against Australia is important for India from a World Test Championship (WTC) perspective. India need to beat Australia 4-0 in order to directly qualify for the WTC 2025 final at Lord’s next June. India have emerged victorious over Australia in Australia on their last two tours (2018-19 and 2020-21).

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