India A vs England Lions: Top positives for Team India from the Unofficial Test Series. Dhruv Jurel, Karun Nair and KL Rahul are the biggest plus.
The five-match Tendulkar-Anderson Test series between hosts England and India is all set to commence at Headingley, Leeds from June 20th. From India’s point of view, the preparation for this important series has been going on in full swing.
The “A” team that includes few of India’s Test regulars have been in England to play their Lions team right after IPL commitments to get acclimatized to the conditions. Several prominent players got to play at least one of these Unofficial Tests and this should hold them in good stead ahead of a challenging summer in England over the next few weeks.
We will break down to you whose returns from those two games are the biggest positives as far as Team India is concerned.
KL Rahul
India’s most experienced specialist batter in the turning party has been in sublime form over the past few months. KL Rahul had a great CT 2025 campaign for India and he followed it up with a brilliant IPL season.
And in the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Rahul is expected to take responsibility to score bulk of the runs. He didn’t disappoint in the second tour game he featured, scoring a stroke-filled 118 in the first innings and following up with a fluent 51 in the second.
With Rahul likely opening the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal, his form is crucial for Team India’s chances in this series. These twin 50+ scores should give him plenty of confidence going into Leeds’ Test match.
Dhruv Jurel
If one batter who has impressed everyone in recent times, especially in red-ball format. It has to be Dhruv Jurel. Fast-tracked into Test teams in the absence of Rishabh Pant, Jurel has retained his spot in the Test squad owing to some solid show in the tour games.
In the two games against England Lions side, Jurel has scored 227 runs in just four innings. This includes three fifty-plus scores and was easily the most consistent India batter on view.
Read More: KL Rahul proves his worth as he scores 116 as opener for India A against England Lions. A sure-shot starter for Leeds?
Karun Nair
Continuing his rich vein of form across formats and in IPL over the last few seasons, Karun Nair began his English summer in style scoring 204 in the first game held at Canterbury.
This was Nair’s second first class double ton in the country and one which could earn him a spot in the Test playing XI after eight years.
Yashasvi Jaiswal
A sure shot starter in the playing XI, Yashasvi Jaiswal played both these games. While the left-hander scored just a solitary half-century (64) across the four innings, he looked conformable during most of his stay at the crease.
It is important for India’s best Test batter from the last WTC cycle to be amongst the runs in this series. Jaiswal getting started is a positive sign for India going into the Leeds game and his potential opening partnership with Rahul holds the key for India’s batting success.
The other batter whose batting form in these tour games is a huge positive is that of Abhimanyu Easwaran. The India “A” skipper made two scores of 80+ in the tour and can be viewed as a handy back-up opening option for India.
Read More: England Lions vs India A, 1st Unofficial Test, Day 1: Karun Nair lights up the stage with his 186*
Mukesh Kumar
Among the bowlers, Mukesh Kumar looked the most impressive. The pacer who is likely to get a game down the line in this series gave a good account of himself, in a high scoring Canterbury game picking 3/92.
He picked three quick wickets when nothing was happening for bowlers then and his wicket-taking ability is a handy option to have for India.
Khlaeel Ahmed
The left-arm pacer, who had an impressive season for CSK in the IPL continued his brilliant show in England, this time with red ball. In the second game at Northampton, Khaleel picked 4/70 that helped India A get a small lead over England Lions.
With just Arshdeep Singh being the only left-arm seamer in the line-up, this uncapped pacer’s form could add great deal of value to the team.
Read More: IND vs ENG, Tests, 2025: India’s opening options on England tour
