India A vs Australia A: KL Rahul fails to impress while Dhruv Jurel scores fighting fifty in 2nd unofficial Test at MCG

KL Rahul failed to impress during the second unofficial Test between India A and Australia A ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, getting dismissed for 4 on the opening day in Melbourne. Rahul, who opened alongside Bengal batter Abhimanyu Easwaran, was dismissed for a run-a-ball 4 after getting caught-behind off Scott Boland’s bowling on the opening day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

It wasn’t just the senior wicketkeeper-batter though; India A were reduced to 11/4 after they were invited to bat by the Aussies with opener Easwaran and No 3 batter B Sai Sudharsan were dismissed for ducks while skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad was dismissed on 4.

Dhruv Jurel, however, came to India A’s rescue after their top-order collapse, adding 53 for the fifth wicket with Devdutt Padikkal (26) along with a 39-run sixth-wicket stand with Nitish Kumar Reddy (16) to take the Indians past 100.

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At the end of 52 overs, Jurel was batting on 80 off 177 deliveries, stitching a handy little partnership with Prasidh Krishna down the order to guide India A past the 150-mark with two wickets still in hand.

Both Rahul and Jurel had been added to India A's squad ahead of the second unofficial Test in Melbourne and were included in the XI – presumably to audition for a spot in India’s middle-order ahead of the marquee five-Test series that gets underway on 22 November in Perth.

Rahul had recently been benched after getting dismissed on 0 and 12 in the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru recently, ferrying drinks in the remaining Tests in Pune and Mumbai.

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Jurel, on the other hand, has been relegated to the sidelines ever since Rishabh Pant made a successful comeback from a car accident that he had suffered in December 2022, but remains hopeful of being included purely as a batter even if Pant continues to don the keeper’s gloves.

Australia A had beaten India A by seven wickets in the first unofficial Test in Mackay, in which pacer Mukesh Kumar had collected 6/46 in the first innings and Sai Sudharsan (103) and Padikkal (88) had shone with the bat in the second.