Karun Nair was elegance personified while serving a timely reminder to the Gautam Gambhir-led team management with a classy unbeaten 186 as India A cruised to 409/3 against a below-par England Lions on the opening day of the first Unofficial Test, in Canterbury, on Friday.
Karun was a class apart during his unbeaten 246-ball knock, hitting 24 fours and a six, as he made the Lions bowlers, including their Test star Rehan Ahmed, look completely pedestrian.
The India A batters made the best use of loose deliveries but the quality of Lions bowling attack and nature of the track might not be an appropriate reflection of what can be expected in the five-Test series against England next month.
Karun, who now plays for Vidarbha, used his extensive experience of playing for English County Northamptonshire during his 24th first-class ton. His brilliant knock couldn't have come at a more opportune time as Gambhir frets over his batting combination for the opening Test against England at Leeds, starting on June 20.
Sarfaraz Khan (92 off 119 balls) blended a bit of muscle and a lot of cheekiness but missed out on a three-figure mark after doing all the hard work, putting on 181 runs for the third wicket.
India's reserve wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel also got much-needed match practice ahead of the Test series as he scored a brisk 82 from 104 balls, and was involved in an unbroken stand of 177 from 204 balls for the fourth wicket with Karun.
Karun boosted his chances of making a comeback to the India's Test playing XI for the upcoming five-match series in England with a sparkling century. The 33-year-old, who was recalled to the Indian Test squad after eight years, brought up his hundred from 155 balls as he hit spinner Rehan Ahmed through the covers for two runs in the 60th over.
Call it irony, just like Karun had pipped Sarfaraz as the middle order batter in the Test squad, he also overshadowed the Mumbai man on a flat deck where the Lions attack didn't have enough teeth to trouble some of the senior India stars. Conceding 51 boundaries and three sixes in 90 overs doesn't make for a great reading.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (24 off 55 balls) played out the first hour but didn't utilize the start while Abhimanyu Easwaran (8), who should consider himself massively lucky to have got another shot at Test team, failed to make most of the opportunity.
The Canterbury County ground pitch had a greenish tinge but there was hardly any lateral movement on offer. Karun had extra time to play his shots and was severe on all bowlers with a lot of shots square of the wicket.
Rehan, the England Test leg-spinner, was extremely ordinary as he was clobbered for 95 runs in 16 overs. Sarfaraz, in fact, hit him inside out for a boundary to complete his fifty and also hit him straight for a maximum, and against pacers, he used the bounce to play the ramp shot over slips for useful runs.
Karun was severe on anything that was pitched short and looked regal whenever he rocked back to play the pull shot. When off-spinner Dan Mousley bowled, he repeatedly played the reverse sweep with minimal effort.
The duo farmed the strike without much ado and when Sarfaraz lazily chased a wide delivery from Hull down the leg-side, even Lions bowlers didn't expect a wicket.
But the joy was short-lived as there was no taking the foot from the pedal from either Karun or Jurel, who continued to show disdain for home team bowlers.
Brief scores: India A 409/3 in 90 overs (Karun Nair 186 not out; Sarfaraz Khan 92, Dhruv Jurel 82 not out; Josh Hull 2/51) vs England Lions.
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