It must be mentioned that Ajit Agarkar and the National Cricket Academy (NCA) head, VVS Laxman, were in attendance for the intra-squad match that is being played behind closed doors. Both media and fans are not allowed to see the action being played out.
Sarfaraz Khan’s ouster from the main India squad raised several eyebrows. However, the youngster took the omission in his stride as he played a knock of 92 runs in the first unofficial Test between India A and England Lions in Canterbury.
Sarfaraz Khan has played six Tests for India so far, scoring 371 runs at an average of 37.10. Last year, he scored 150 runs in the second innings of the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand. However, he failed in the next two Tests against the Kiwis.
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The right-hander then didn’t get a chance in the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, which India lost 1-3. Before the series against England, Sarfaraz even lost 10 kgs. He was working hard as he was practising against the swinging ball. However, disappointment followed as he was not named in the 18-member squad for the five-match series against England, beginning June 20.
Jasprit Bumrah goes wicketless
On the second day of the intra-squad match, Jasprit Bumrah went wicketless while Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna returned with two wickets each.
However, Siraj’s performance left a lot to be desired. He conceded more than seven runs per over. Bumrah, too, conceded five runs per over, and this is a big cause of concern heading into the series against England.
Nitish Kumar Reddy also returned with one wicket as he dismissed India A batter Abhimanyu Easwaran for 39.
For India A, Sai Sudharsan scored 38 runs off 60 balls with seven boundaries while Ishan Kishan registered 45 runs off 55 balls. India A ended Day 2 at 299/6, still trailing India by 160 runs.
On Day 1, India batted first with both skipper Shubman Gill and KL Rahul scoring half-centuries.
