3 players to keep an eye on in England Lions vs India A 2nd Unofficial Test ft. KL Rahul

India A are set to play the second unofficial Test against England Lions starting Friday, June 6, at the County Ground in Northampton. The first unofficial Test in Canterbury ended in a draw.

This is a warm-up series ahead of India's tour of England, which will see five Tests being played beginning June 20. India A batted first in the first unofficial Test and posted a total of 557 in the first innings with Karun Nair smashing a double hundred.

In reply, England Lions got to 587 with centuries from Tom Haines, Max Holden, and Dan Mousley. The second innings for India A saw Abhimanyu Easwaran, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, and Nitish Kumar Reddy score half-centuries as the game ended in a draw.

There are some key names in the line-ups for both teams returning for the second unofficial Test. England Lions have won the toss and opted to bowl first on the opening day. That said, here are three players to keep an eye on in this game.

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#3 Nitish Kumar Reddy

Australia v India - Men's 5th Test Match: Day 2 - Source: Getty

All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy scored seven runs in the first innings of the first match. The medium pacer also bowled 14.5 overs and gave away 63 runs at an economy rate of 4.24, picking up one wicket.

The right-hander bounced back with the bat in the second innings. He scored an unbeaten 52 off just 47 balls including five boundaries and three sixes.

This will be a crucial game for Reddy to present his case for the playing XI of the senior team, as he faces competition from fellow all-rounder Shardul Thakur for a spot.

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#2 Chris Woakes

New Zealand v England - 2nd Test: Day 3 - Source: Getty

Fast-bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes was added to the England Lions squad for the second unofficial Test and is a part of the XI as well. He is also a part of the senior England team for the five-Test series later on, included in the 14-man squad for the first Test.

This is an important opportunity for Woakes, the seasoned and experienced pace bowling all-rounder, to showcase his performance and make it to the XI for the first Test against India. Woakes picked up six wickets for Warwickshire on his recent return from an ankle injury.

He has played 57 Tests for England so far and has scored 1970 runs with a hundred and seven half-centuries apart from grabbing 181 wickets with the ball.

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#1 KL Rahul

BORDER GAVASKAR TROPHY TEST: DEC 30 NRMA Insurance Boxing Day Test - Source: Getty

All eyes will be on star batter KL Rahul, who is playing the second unofficial Test for India A to prepare for the main series. Rahul comes on the back of the IPL 2025 season where he played for the Delhi Capitals (DC) and put up an impressive performance with the bat.

Rahul was a part of the Indian team during the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 series against Australia in Australia. Despite starting the series well, he ended with just 276 runs from ten innings at an average of 30.66 with two half-centuries.

In the absence of stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli who announced their Test retirements, KL Rahul will have a massive role to play as a senior batter.