Canterbury [UK], May 30 : India A captain Abhimanyu Easwaran flopped on the opening day of the first unofficial Test, while Yashasvi Jaiswal exuded confidence but eventually gave in to his attacking instincts against England Lions on Friday.
At the stroke of Lunch, India A put 86/2 on the board, with Sarfaraz Khan and Karun Nair unbeaten with scores of 17(31) and 26(60), respectively.
After winning the toss, England Lions forced India A to bat on a sunny day at Canterbury's strip covered in grass. Skipper Easwaran and the young sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal came out to open with hopes of getting valuable game time before the five high-stakes fixtures between the two modern-day giants.
Easwaran, a household name in India's domestic circuit and with a plethora of experience in the red-ball format, couldn't conjure up a consequential performance. He oozed confidence, took his time to open his account, and left the deliveries that travelled in the corridor of uncertainty but got undone by a single delivery and returned cheaply on 8(17).
With picture-perfect strokes, the 29-year-old found the boundary rope twice but got pinned in front of the stumps by Josh Hull. On the other hand, Jaiswal dazzled on the crease with a blend of aggression and composure.
He switched his tempo according to the demands of the delivery and garnered three boundaries and a towering maximum. With runs flowing from his bat with a touch of elegance, Jaiswal's downfall came down to his aggressive mindset.
The 23-year-old switched to white ball mode, took a wild swing at Eddie Jack's delivery and gave away an edge to England Lions captain and wicketkeeper James Rew, which confirmed his return ticket on 24(55).
Nair, who enjoyed a purple patch in Vidarbha's title-winning run in the Ranji Trophy last season, continued to stick to his formula of success. He was in control of 78 per cent of the deliveries he faced, with the cover drive being his most productive shot.
Meanwhile, Sarfaraz Khan thrived by implementing off-drive but was tested by England's pace unit throughout the first session. While Nair went over the slips, flicked the ball to generate runs, and took the cover dive out of the textbook to pick up a four on an overpitched delivery.
Sarfaraz explored different routes to put runs on the board. He occasionally broke the shackles and sent the ball racing towards the boundary rope by the opening face of his bat.
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