Kerala opener Rohan Kunnummal’s scorching type resulted in his maiden India A call-up on Wednesday for the Test tour to Bangladesh that’s scheduled to start in Cox’s Bazaar on November 29.
With lower than a month to go for the IPL (Indian Premier League) 2023 public sale, Kunnummal, who has swiftly constructed his title as an all-format batter for Kerala, attended trials with a number of franchises.
The Kerala opener informed Sportstar that he had attended match simulation classes with Rajasthan Royals (RR), Delhi Capitals (DC) and Kolkata Knight Riders within the lead-up to the mini-auction, which shall be held in Kochi on December 23.
Kunnummal stated his senior Kerala teammate and Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson had led him to the trials with Rajasthan.
“I had attended trials with Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan and Delhi Capitals. I had received calls for a couple of more trials, but I couldn’t attend them because of our State-team matches. I attended the three sessions during the break between the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy group stage and knockouts.
“Sanju (Samson) bhai had taken a few of us for the trials at Rajasthan. I was able to perform well in the match simulations with RR and DC. Obviously, the selection at the auction isn’t in my hands and I am not thinking about it,” Kunnummal added.
The 24-year-old has had a breakout run in 2022. Kunnummal slammed three centuries in consecutive innings for Kerala within the group stage of the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 season earlier this 12 months. Rohan backed it up with a fourth ton in succession throughout his Duleep Trophy debut for South Zone in September.
While Kunnummal may solely handle 201 runs in eight innings with a solitary fifty within the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20s, he bounced again within the group stage of the continuing 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy match. Kunnummal struck his maiden List A century (134 vs Goa) and adopted up with an unbeaten 107 off 75 balls towards Bihar on Monday as Kerala secured qualification for the pre-quarterfinals. Kunnummal is Kerala’s main run-scorer within the match with 414 runs in seven innings however will miss the knockouts following his India A call-up.
Kerala coach Tinu Yohannan has confirmed that the staff is not going to title a alternative for Kunnummal and can carry the identical squad for its pre-quarterfinal conflict towards Jammu and Kashmir in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
The India A staff will play two four-day video games towards Bangladesh A in Cox’s Bazaar and Sylhet. Senior India gamers Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav, who’re a part of India’s Test squad for its two-match sequence in Bangladesh from mid-December, had been additionally named within the A squad for the second four-day sport that shall be performed from December 6.