Mangaluru, Nov 10: Rahul K L, the promising young cricketer from this port city is now a Team India player! Karnataka's in-form young opener has made into India's 19-member Test squad for the Test series against Australia in December-January.
The squad was picked on Monday by the five-man selection committee headed by Sandeep Patil.
Hailing from Surathkal town in Mangaluru taluk, 22-year-old Rahul was one of the leading run-getters in the 2013-14 domestic season and recently scored a century in each innings of the Duleep Trophy final in New Delhi for South Zone.
Rahul piled up 1035 in the last Ranji season, finishing as the second highest run-scorer after Kedar Jadhav. With knocks of 185 and 130 in the recent Duleep Trophy, the batsman caught the eye of selection panel.
Rahul also has the experience of playing in Australia as he had opened for India A in a recent tour Down Under.
Along with Raul, talented Railways legspinner Karn Sharma and Madhya Pradesh wicket keeper batsman Naman Ojha also have been selected for the four-Test tour. However, India captain MS Dhoni will miss the first Test on the tour of Australia due to injury.
The 27-year-old Karn, who has already played a Twenty20 International for India, has been performing well with his leg-breaks in the IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad, who bought him for a whopping Rs 3.75 crore. He grabbed 11 wickets in 13 matches at an economy rate of 6.60 in the season gone by.
Naman also benefited from his good form in the domestic circuit and has been chosen in the squad more as a reserve batsman than a wicketkeeper. He scored four centuries on the trot, including three in Australia.
The five-man panel also selected a battery of five pacers including Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron. There are three specialist spinners in the squad with R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Karn.
The batting line-up has a more assured look to it with Dhawan and Murali Vijay picked to open and Rahul as the third reserve opener.
Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and Raina, along with captain Dhoni, make for a strong middle-order.
The Indians are scheduled to play four Test matches during the tour. Apart from Brisbane, Adelaide (December 12 to 16), Melbourne (December 26 to 30) and Sydney (January 3 to 7) will host the other three matches.
Squad: MS Dhoni (C), Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, R Ashwin, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron.
Also Read: From Nehru Maidan to Team India: Mangaluru lad Rahul likely to book ticket to Australia
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