Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen showered praise on the India batting duo of Karun Nair and KL Rahul ahead of the all-important five-match Test series between the Men in Blue and the Three Lions. The series that is set to begin from June 20, will mark the beginning of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
While Rahul cemented his place in India's Test team through good displays with the bat in the Border-Gavaskar series 2024/25 against Australia, Nair got called back to the squad after eight long years. This was mainly due to the 33-year-old's spectacular domestic season where he scored a ton of runs for Vidarbha in both the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Ranji Trophy.
Karun Nair scored an incredible double-hundred against England Lions
However, his incredible batting performances didn't just end there as after getting included in the India A squad for the warm-up Tests against the England Lions, Nair smashed a double-century in the first match. His fantastic knock of 204 was the catalyst to India A posting a mammoth first inning total of 557.
On the other hand, Rahul has reportedly told the BCCI that he wants to play in India A's second unofficial Test in England and has made himself available for the match. Ahead of the beginning of the Test series between India and England, Pietersen shared a post on his official social media account, labelling Nair and Rahul as 'two gems'.
"Karun gets a 100 yesterday and KL has asked BCCI to travel early to UK to get extra practice in before Tests - 2 gems!" Pietersen wrote in a social media post.
The second unofficial Test between the England Lions and India A will begin from June 6. Following this, India's senior team will be involved in an intra-squad match in Beckenham on June 13.
Two days of play have so far been concluded in the first unofficial Test between India A and England Lions. After posting a massive first inning total the visitors looked to be in control, however the English batters fought back and a brilliant century from Tom Haines alongwith an unbeaten knock of 64 from Max Holden saw them finish the second day on 237/2.
They are currently trailing by 320 runs, but the duo of Haines and Holden look set to punish the Indian bowlers further. It will be interesting to see which team comes out on top on the third day.