Mohammad Shami conceding 96 runs in his 10 overs quota. It must have been worrying for the national selectors to see the India pacer being torn apart by the offensive Karnataka batsmen, even though the wicket was flat, while bowling for India A in their Deodhar Trophy match at the HPCA Stadium here on Tuesday night. Perhaps, it’s time to consider the 27-year-old purely as a ‘Test specialist.’

While opener Mayank Agarwal, who was in blazing form coming into this tournament, was out again without putting much on the board, Pawan Deshpande missed out a ton and Ravikumar Samarth innings of 85 runs, who had slammed a hundred just 24 hours earlier, added 129 (in 119 balls) for the third wicket to lay the platform for a big total. The final impetus was provided superbly by ‘keeper-bat CM Gautam with 49 runs and all-rounder Stuart Binny scored 37 runs who smashed 72 in 37 balls during their unbeaten alliance for the fifth wicket.

Brief scores: Karnataka 339-4 in 50 overs (Pawan Deshpande 95, Ravikumar Samarth 85, CM Gautam 49 not out) bt India A 274 in 39.5 overs (Unmukt Chand 81, Ishan Kishan 73, Prithvi Shaw 40; K Gowtham 4-52, R More 3-64) by 65 runs.