India A vs Australia A in Chennai Highlights: Lokesh Rahul's 96, Cheteshwar Pujara's 55 Only Bright Spots

India A batted first after winning the toss against Australia A in Chennai. They were led by Cheteshwar Pujara, who is seeking a Test return like several other members of this team. Follow highlights.

5.46 It's stumps on Day 1. India A are 221/6 after 77 overs. Ojha, Yadav and Mithun are the men to follow. The Australians will aim to polish off the rather long tail Thursday morning. Considering the breezy start the Indians got, an overall run-rate of 2.86 is not too impressive. Rahul's 96 was the highlight of the day.Two wickets apiece of 30-year-old Tasmanian seamer Fekete and 30-year-old Malaysia-born spinner O'Keefe, who has been part of Kochi Tuskers in the IPL.

5.05: Naman Ojha becomes O'Keefe's second victim. The wicket-keeper batsman scored 10 off 56 balls and with a boundary. India A 221/6 after 77 overs. Amit Mishra has joined Vijay Shanker (4). The post-tea session has belonged to the Australians.

3.54: KL Rahul out for 96! This is the end of a great innings. The man deserved the century by all means. He faced 185 balls and slammed 14 boundaries. India lose their fifth wicket. Abbott gets his wicket. Rahul is a big one. India have lost two wickets post tea. They are 214 for 5 wickets. Naman Ojha and Vijay Shanker are batting now.

3.37: Shreyas Iyer's innings comes to an end. He is bowled for 39 and India A are 187/4 in the last session of play. This was the time to play a long innings. Iyer has missed the opportunity

3.26: At tea, India A progress to 175 for three wickets (57 overs). Rahul is on 74 off 163 balls. This knock should impress the selectors who will pick the squad for next month's Sri lanka tour tomorrow. Shreyas Iyer seems to have taken off from IPL mode. He is batting on 30 off 39 balls with six boundaries. Sean Abbott, whose delivery killed Phil Hughes, has bowled 10 overs without success. Australia A's wicket-takers are pacer Andrew Fekete (2/34) and left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe (1/64).

2.41: Karun Nair's 15-ball innings comes to a nought. India lose their third wicket for 132. Lokesh Rahul (74 off 157 balls) stands tall. India A are 175 for three after 56 overs. Shreyas Iyer has joined Rahul. This young man had a great domestic and IPL season. He needs a good knock here

1.43: Cheteshwar Pujara falls for 55. He is caught by Khawaja as Fekete gets his second wicket. India A 127/2 after 40 overs. Pujara took 122 balls for his innings that was laced with seven boundaries. Karun Nair has joined Rahul, who is batting on 56. Pujara and Rahul added 107 runs for the second wicket.

1.18: Pujara, Rahul get their fifties after lunch as Aussie bowlers toil. Both batsmen took time to build their innings. India 122/1 after being 20/1 in the second over

Dravid had backed Pujara to find form soon.

© AP

12.27: Lunch taken with India A on 104/1 in 30 overs. Rahul is unbeaten on 47 and Pujara is batting on 41. The lone wicket in the first session went to Andrew Fekete

12.10: Rahul and Pujara have so far added 84 for the second wicket. Both men would be keen to put up strong performances here and stake claim in the Indian Test team. India A 104/1 in 30 overs.

India A win toss & bat v Australia A, with Test hopefuls aplenty in both sides. Preview: http://t.co/m96YbFf27r pic.twitter.com/Z0q8O99Ey4

- cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) July 22, 2015

Lokesh Rahul made an impressive start to his Test career.

© AP

11:30: India progress to 71 for 1 in 20 overs. Rahul is on 39 and Pujara on 17. The current partnership is 51.

11:00: India suffered an early jolt when Abhinav Mukund was bowled by Andrew Fekete for 9. KL Rahul is the other opener. He made a fluent start, scoring 25 off 32 balls when reports last came in. India were 47 for 1 after 10 overs. Pujara was batting with Rahul on 7.

10:30: India win toss at Chepauk. To bat first. Squad: Pujara, Rahul, Mukund, Nair, Naman Ojha, Shreyas Iyer, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Umesh Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Abhimanyu Mithun.

Preview

Lot of focus will be on Rahul, who missed the Bangladesh tour due to indisposition. The Indian Test squad for next month's tour of Sri Lanka will be picked on Thursday. A good knock will only help Rahul's cause. (Dravid Backs Pujara to Find Form)

This is series is key for Pujara too. He has been a sound run-scorer since he began playing first class cricket in 2005. However, during India's England and Australia tours last year, Pujara went through a low scoring phase, failing to score a century in eight Tests. During that period, he managed to cross the 50-run mark only twice. (Varun Aaron Ruled Out Due to Fever)

The Rajkot-born then went to England to play for county side Yorkshire to find his lost rhythm. He scored a century in his last match.

"It's good to have County experience. I myself had a small stint with Kent. Pujara might not have played the entire season but the experience he gathered playing in different conditions, different dressing rooms, and different set of players will help," said India A coach Rahul Dravid.

Australia A are being led by Usman Khwaja.