Rahul slams successive fifties to all but seal third opener's slot, India A in full command against England Lions

Rahul, who had slammed 89 in the first match to send a quiet reminder to the selectors, scored 81 on Wednesday to all but confirm his spot as a back-up opener for the upcoming home series against Australia as well as the ODI World Cup in England.

KL Rahul carried on from he had left in the first match by scoring another sparkling half-century in the second unofficial test as India A batters dominated proceedings against England Lions on the first day at Mysore. At stumps, India A reached 282 for 3.

Rahul, who had slammed 89 in the first match to send a quiet reminder to the selectors, scored 81 on Wednesday to all but confirm his spot as a back-up opener for the upcoming home series against Australia as well as the ODI World Cup in England. Rahul’s innings was laced with 11 fours.

The back-to-back fifties are certain to bring Rahul’s confidence back which he had lost after being suspended for an off the field incident. He was not considered for selection despite his suspension being provisionally revoked by BCCI. Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad had however said Rahul was one of the strongest contenders for the third opener’s slot provided he scores runs. Now that he has, it will be hard to keep the talented right-hander out of the Indian side.

Coming back to the match, the top-scorer for India A was, however, Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran who struck his 11^th first-class century. Together with Rahul, Easwaran gave India A a dream start putting on a 179-run opening stand.

The most impressive part of that partnership was the scoring rate. The duo kept on finding the boundaries in regular intervals to keep the scoreboard moving.  Rahul missed his hundred after Chappell removed him for 81 but Easwaran carried on and scored 117 forging another crucial 73-run partnership with Priyank Panchal. Easwaran hit 13 fours and a six in his 222-ball stay in the middle.

Gujarat’s highest run-scorer of the recently concluded Ranji Trophy, Panchal too scored a free-flowing half-century before being cleaned up by left-arm spinner Dom Bess.