KL Rahul made a century at the top of the order for India A on his first outing in England ahead of the senior Test series, cementing his status as favourite to take over from Rohit Sharma in the vacant opening position.
Rahul opened his account for the tour by scoring 116 runs off 168 balls, leading from the front after India A slipped to 40-2. They were faced with a star-studded England Lions bowling attack, which featured Chris Woakes and Josh Tongue – both of whom are the squad for the Test series – as well as highly-rated Nottinghamshire off-spinner Farhan Ahmed.
2nd unofficial Test, England Lions vs India A
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Woakes did the business for the Lions first up, dismissing both Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhimanyu Easwaran lbw, before also pinning double-centurion from the first match, Karun Nair. Dhruv Jurel managed to keep Rahul company however, scoring a half-century before he was bowled by George Hill. That was the first of two wickets in eight balls, with Rahul also dismissed by Hill in his following over.
Sarfaraz Khan, Karun Nair and Shubman Gill, all part of India A’s squad for the England tour, are being considered to replace Virat Kohli at No.4 in Tests.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) May 19, 2025
Who do you think is the right choice? 🤔#ENGvsIND #Cricket pic.twitter.com/FI4DnhYN3b
Those breakthroughs constituted a comeback for England Lions, who reeled the visitors in from 247-3 to 319-7 at the end of the day.
Rahul's century cements his place as the favourite to takeover at the top of the order for the senior Test side following Rohit Sharma's retirement. While Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir were tight-lipped on their batting order in their press conference earlier this week, and India have Sai Sudharsan in their squad as well as Easwaran, Rahul's experience as a Test opener likely gives him the edge.
England will be encouraged by Woakes getting through 17 overs. The veteran seam-bowler has only been able to feature in one Championship match for Warwickshire this season through injury. Amidst an injury crisis of fast-bowlers, which this week also saw Gus Atkinson ruled-out of the first Test match later this month, Woakes's fitness will be crucial to England's bowling plans.
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