New Delhi, May 30 (IANS) Senior batter KL Rahul will turn out for India ‘A’ in their second red-ball game against England Lions, starting in Northampton on June 6. India ‘A’, led by opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, will play their first red-ball game against England Lions in Canterbury on Friday.

Rahul will travel from Mumbai to London on Monday to link up with his India ‘A’ teammates. “Playing in the second India ‘A’ game will serve as a crucial preparatory match for Rahul ahead of the upcoming five-match Test series against England.

“His franchise Delhi Capitals not qualifying for IPL 2025 playoffs also meant that free space was created in Rahul’s schedule to go and turn out for India ‘A’ ahead of an important assignment for the Test team,” said sources aware of the development to IANS on Friday.

It’s not the first time that Rahul, now the side’s senior most batter with 58 caps, after the retirements of stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, will be turning out for India ‘A’ ahead of an important overseas Test tour.

Last year, shortly after India lost the third Test to New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and suffered an unprecedented 3-0 series defeat at home, Rahul and wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel flew to Melbourne to turn out for India ‘A’ in their red-ball game against Australia ‘A’ at the MCG ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

Though Rahul didn’t make plenty of runs in that game, it gave him crucial time to get used to Australian conditions. That set the stage for Rahul to amass 255 runs in five Tests at an average of 30.66, including hitting two fifties. He looked solid in India’s series opening win in Perth by scoring 26 and 77 runs while sharing a record 201-run stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second innings.

With Rahul having scored two centuries as an opener on Test tours of England, his experience at the top will be very vital for India to navigate the challenge of facing the moving ball in the initial stage of an innings and then set a total to challenge the ultra-attacking batting style of the Ben Stokes-led side.

India ‘A’ is also expected to have new Test skipper Shubman Gill and left-handed batter B Sai Sudharsan join in for the second game, though it also depends on how far Gujarat Titans can go in IPL 2025 playoffs – especially with them playing the Eliminator against Mumbai Indians in New Chandigarh on Friday evening.

India’s all-important Test series against England will be held from June 20 to August 4, with Headingley, Edgbaston, Lord’s, Old Trafford and The Oval being the venues. India are aiming to win a Test series in England for the first time since 2007. The series also marks the start of a new World Test Championship cycle for India under Gill’s leadership.

–IANS

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