Abhimanyu Easwaran, Nitish Reddy flop with bat as Australia-A skittle out India-A on 107 in first innings

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy-bound Indian players, batter Abhimanyu Easwaran and all-rounder Nitish Reddy, flopped in the first innings for India-A against Australia-A during the first unofficial Test in Mackay on Thursday (Oct 31). While opener Easwaran scored just seven runs, Reddy departed on a six-ball duck, as seamer Brendan Doggett returned with 6/15 in 11 overs, dismissing India-A on 107 in the first innings.

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Besides, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad departed on a first-ball duck, with pacer Jordan Buckingham picking his wicket. Australia-A keeper Josh Philippe was kept busy early in the first hour, grabbing four catches, with India-A’s scorecard reading 32 for three at one stage.

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Only the left-handed pair of Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal were among the runs, with Sai scoring 21 and Padikkal leading the run-scoring chart with a gritty 36. The India-A middle order failed to put runs on the board, with Baba Inderjit (9), gloveman Ishan Kishan (4) and Reddy (0) falling on single digits.

Though seamer Navdeep Saini did put a price on his wicket, scoring 23, the tail couldn’t hang around to support him, resulting in a shallow batting show.

Australian openers continue struggling

Given Cricket Australia is also searching for the right man to replace David Warner at the top, three of their prime options - rookie batter Sam Konstas, Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft failed to get going, with the returning Prasidh Krishna picking two of those three wickets.

With their failure with the bat, the pressure mounts on the selectors to pick between an emerging superstar and experienced ones for the first Test.
Easwaran in Indian Team

Picked as the backup opener for the five-match Test series against Australia, Easwaran might take up Rohit Sharma’s place at the top in one of the two matches, with the India captain reported missing either the first or second game due to personal reasons.

Part of India-A squads over the years, Easwaran, should he debut, will open alongside rookie Yashasvi Jaiswal, with Shubman Gill set to play at number three throughout. Though his rare failure against the new ball could cast doubt over his automatic selection, the selectors look ready to hand him his maiden India cap during this tour.

Meanwhile, the first set of Indian players will fly on November 10, while the others will re-link with the squad sooner.

Perth will host the first Test beginning November 22.

(With inputs from agencies)