The BCCI has included Rinku Singh for the second and third India A vs England Lions ‘Test matches’, in Ahmedabad.

In the first ‘Test’ of the three-match series, the England Lions amassed scoring 553-8 at 4.68 an over and 163-6 at 5.52. Keaton Jennings made 154 in 188 balls and 64 in 65, and Lions captain Josh Bohannon made a first-innings 125.

Between the two innings, Rajat Patidar slammed a 158-ball 151 out of 227 as Matthew Potts (4-30) and Matthew Fisher (4-65) ran amok. Despite the 326-run lead, Bohannon did not enforce the follow-on but opted to bat again, setting India A 490 in well over a day.

This time Potts (2-45) reduced India A to 6-2. Callum Parkinson’s (3-182) gave the Lions further hope, but Manav Suthar (89 not out) and KS Bharat (116 not out) added an unbroken 207 to save the game. When stumps were drawn, India A needed 64 with five wickets in hand.

England Lions have retained their 15-member squad, but India A made some changes. Abhimanyu Easwaran will continue to lead them, but they will not have wicketkeepers Bharat or Dhruv Jurel, both of whom have been included in the Indian squad for the Test series against England.

At the same time, they will be reinforced by Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma, and Rinku Singh, all of whom were part of the T20Is against Afghanistan.

The selectors had originally included Rinku only for the third ‘Test’, but according to a BCCI release on January 23, they included him for the second ‘Test’ as well.

The squads for the second and third ‘Tests’ between India A and England are here.

From 44 first-class matches, Rinku has made 3,109 runs at 57.57 with seven hundreds, for Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy and Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

However, he has never played for India A in the format. The selectors had picked him for the unofficial ‘Tests’ against Sri Lanka A in 2019, but a suspension kept him out. Since then, he impressed for the Indian ODI and T20I sides as well as for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

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