Drafted to India A’s squad ahead of the unofficial 2nd Test against Australia A, star batter KL Rahul could only manage to score 4 runs in the first inning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Rahul, who opened the batting for India A in the second official Test, lasted just four balls, hitting a solitary boundary before being removed by pacer Scott Boland, who is part of Australia’s squad for the upcoming five-match series against India, starting November 22. Apart from Rahul, Bengal captain Abhimanyu Easwarana, also part of India’s Test squad, registered a three-ball duck.

Easwarana, who has been tipped to replace India captain Rohit Sharma, who is likely to miss the 1st Test against Australia in Perth, was one of Michael Neser‘s four scalps in the first session.

India A were 65/5 at Lunch on Day 1 as Neser grabbed four wickets in the opening session. Neser dismissed the likes of Easwarana (0), Sai Sudharsan (0) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (4) inside the first hour of play.

Easwaran – 0(3).

KL Rahul – 4(4).

Sudharsan – 0(1).

Ruturaj – 4(6).

– INDIA A STRUGGLE AT MCG AS THEY ARE NOW 11/4…!!!! pic.twitter.com/vcaQjao4az

— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) November 7, 2024

K L Rahul 4 (4) – while playing for India A vs Australia A. His fans have a huge task to defend him again. #KLRahul pic.twitter.com/5ByOK24k0e

— Ganpat Teli (@gateposts_) November 7, 2024

KL Rahul started as a Middle order batter. Failed. Shifted as to Open, failed there too. Shifted back to Middle order, flopped there and now back to Opening

So much to fit him in the team. No respect or value for Domestic Players #AUSAvINDA pic.twitter.com/DDI2UBknmB

— BRUTU #AUG21 (@Brutu24) November 7, 2024

Rohit Sharma & Gautam Gambhir intentionally destroying KL Rahul Career.

Kl Rahul is also a fool ,why he is accepting all the demand of the team. You are not any Bradman. pic.twitter.com/xxsoLVvJMF

— Lordgod (@LordGod188) November 7, 2024

IANS had reported on Monday that Rahul and Jurel would link up with the India A team after leaving for Melbourne following the third Test against New Zealand, which the Rohit Sharma-led side lost by 25 runs to suffer a historic 3-0 defeat.

Sources had also said that the decision to send Rahul and Jurel to play for India A team was made with an eye to give the duo some game time ahead of the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, starting in Perth on November 22. It is also believed that Rahul might open alongside Abhimanyu Easwaran, as the Indian team would be keen to see who would be the best person to partner Yashasvi Jaiswal in the Perth Test.

The vacancy at the top comes especially after captain Rohit Sharma said at the end of the Mumbai Test that he could be unavailable for the series opener at Perth due to personal reasons.

While Easwaran has slammed 27 centuries in 100 first-class matches, with an average of 49.40, Rahul has recently batted mainly in the middle-order but comes in with the fact that he’s scored Test centuries in England, South Africa, and Australia, the country where he made his Test debut in 2014.

Rahul played three Tests in the Indian home season, with his last game coming via the hosts’ series opener against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. After making scores of 0 and 12 in that game, where India lost by eight wickets, he didn’t feature in the remainder of the series.

(With IANS Inputs)