KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel join India A squad to face Australia A

Indian cricketers KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel have been added to the India A squad ahead of the second unofficial Test against the hosts Australia A.

Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will host the Australia A vs India A second unofficial Test match, starting on Thursday (November 7). KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel, the senior Indian squad members for the upcoming Australia tour for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, were sent earlier than the other members to get proper match practice.  

Australia A won the first unofficial Test against India A by seven wickets. While India A were all out for only 107 runs in the first innings of the match, they fought bravely in their second innings. Sai Sudharsan (103) and Devdutt Padikkal (88) performed well in the second innings but India A were all out for 312 runs as they set up a fourth innings target of 225 runs. 

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Rahul and Easwaran have the chance to earn an opportunity  

As Rahul and Jurel have officially joined the India A team, both are expected to play the second unofficial Test against Australia A. Rahul is expected to open for India A along with the vice-captain uncapped Abhimanyu Easwaran. Both are in the senior Indian full-member Test squad. 

As captain Rohit Sharma is doubtful for the five-match Test series opener against the hosts Australia, Rahul and Easwaran both have great opportunities to perform well and earn the other spot of Yashasvi Jaiswal's opening partner. As the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 will be a five-match Test series, starting on November 22, they can get more opportunities. 

Prasidh Krishna already replaced Yash Dayal

Meanwhile, Prasidh Krishna was earlier added to the India A squad as a replacement for Yash Dayal. Dayal is in the Indian T20I squad that will play a four-match T20I series against the hosts South Africa, starting on November 8. On the other hand, Prasidh Krishna has already been selected in the full-member Indian squad for the upcoming Test series against the hosts Australia. 

India A updated squad for the Australia tour

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).