India, May 31 -- On comeback trail, Karun Nair smashed an unbeaten 186 against England Lions to make a strong case for his selection in India's team for the first Test against England starting from June 20.

Led by Nair's fine unbeaten hundred (24 fours 1 six), a composed 92 (13 fours) by Sarfaraz Khan and a fluent 82 (9 fours, 1 six) by Dhruv Jurel, the India A side made a bright start to their UK tour. At the end of the opening day of their three-day 1st unofficial Test being played at Canterbury, the tourists were 409/3 after being put into bat.

These performances, with potential slots up for grabs in the Test batting line-up, are a big positive for the Indian side going into the five-match series. Following the retirement of Virat Ko...