KL Rahul isn't having a great time in his career. Not long ago, Rohit Sharma backed him to get a long rope at number six in Tests. But given that the Indian skipper is unlikely to be available for the first Test against Australia later this month, he is suddenly auditioning for an opener's slot and travelled down under early to play for India A as well. But the move hasn't reaped rewards at all with the batter enduring a brainfade moment to get out to a rookie spinner.
For the unversed, Scott Boland dismissed Rahul in the first innings for just four runs but he bided his time in the second innings facing 43 balls for 10 runs. The 44th ball of his innings was the first from the spinner Corey Rocchiccioli in the innings and Rahul, surprisingly, decided to leave the ball that was short and was going down the leg-side.
The ball then went between his two legs to hit the stumps much to the delight of the bowler and the Australia A players. It was a nothing delivery from Corey and he ended up picking a wicket. Rahul, on his part, shouldn't have left the ball and rather should've played at least for a single.
Here's the video:
Meanwhile, in response to India A's score of 161, Australia A posted 223 runs on the board before getting bundled out. It was a good effort from them after they were reduced to 84/5 on the opening day. Prasidh Krishna was the star with the ball for India picking up four wickets while Mukesh Kumar accounted for three wickets. Khaleel Ahmed also impressed picking up a couple in 15 overs.
Despite the bowling helping them make a comeback, India A batters collapsed yet again in their second essay. Openers Abhimanyu Easwaran and Rahul started cautiously adding 25 runs but once the partnership was broken, they soon got reduced to 56/5. Dhruv Jurel has again showed great resilience following his 80-run knock in the first innings and tried to hang around in testing conditions. The second day ended with India A having a lead of 10 runs only with five wickets in hand.