Dhruv Jurel and KL Rahul to travel early to Australia to participate in the second unofficial test for India A.
Dhruv Jurel and KL Rahul will be the first ones to travel to Australia ahead of the 5-test series.
In order to get some playing experience before the five-Test series, which starts in Perth on November 22, both players are scheduled to arrive in Australia one week ahead of the rest of India’s Test team.
Jurel and Rahul will be in queue for India. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s team will play the second and last four-day match at the MCG starting on November 7. In Mackay, where the last day was tainted by a ball-change controversy, India A lost the opening match by seven wickets. However, Ishan Kishan avoided a dissent charge following a confrontation with the on-field umpire.
Rahul scored 0 and 12 in the first Test in Bengaluru, but was taken out of India’s starting lineup after their loss to New Zealand. For the second and third Tests of the series, Rahul was replaced by the returning Shubman Gill. India lost 3-0, their first home defeat in twenty-four years.
Jurel hasn’t played in any of the five home Test matches since Rishabh Pant’s return. Despite making his Test debut against England earlier this year. Since the England series ended in March, he has played in two red-ball matches. One for the Duleep Trophy, and the Irani Cup last month. After only managing 2 and 0 in the Duleep Trophy match, he scored a quick 93 off 121 balls.
Given that the Indian team cancelled their lone intra-squad warm-up match for center-wicket match simulation in Perth. It seemed appropriate to send both players early to receive some match practice.
“We are travelling with a squad of 19 players and only three days were allotted to us. I don’t know how much workload we can get in those three days in terms of getting everyone prepared,” captain Rohit Sharma had reasoned on Sunday.
“The management feels that we’d rather have a match simulation where batters can spend more time in the middle. And the bowlers can bowl a lot of balls. That is something that we, as a team, feel more comfortable doing rather than playing a practice game because game time is not a problem.”
Before the series opener at the Optus Stadium, where they last played on the 2018–19 tour and won 2-1. The Indian squad will train at the WACA, an old site in Perth, before leaving for Australia on November 10.
Unless they change the batting order, India is likely to miss Rohit for that first game due to his personal reasons. His direct replacement in the squad is Abhimanyu Easwaran, who scored seven and twelve in the first A game. This after hitting four consecutive first-class hundreds at the beginning of the Indian domestic season.