Rohit Sharma, Manish Pandey hit superb tons to help India A crush Sri Lanka

Rohit Sharma returned to active cricket with a superb 142 off 111 balls (18 fours and 1 six) in the practice match against Sri Lanka while Manish Pandey too did well with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 135 off 113 to power India A to 382/6. Youngster Unmukt Chand was the other major contributor as he came up with a fine knock of 54.

Rohit and Pandey were involved in a 200+ stand before India lost quick wickets in the death. Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Sanju Samson and Stuart Binny were the ones to fall quickly but that did not prevent India from posting a mammoth total. Dhammika Prasad was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers as he finished with figures of 3/57 - he picked up all three wickets in the penultimate over.

In reply, Sri Lanka were never really in the chase from the word go. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually fell short by 88 runs. Upul Tharanga top scored with 76 but failed to get any support from the other end. As many as 8 other players got into double figures but the next highest score was just 36.

The failure to put on a big partnership hurt the visitors and India A were served well by the spin duo of Karn Sharma (4/47) and Parvez Rasool (2/56) who shared the spoils. Sri Lanka managed to bat out the entire quota of overs but still fell painfully short.

Rohit, who missed the Champions League T20 and the series against West Indies due to multiple injuries, appeared to have completely regained his fitness as he effortlessly stroked his way to a three-figure score.

The 27-year-old was not included in the Indian squad the first three ODIs against Sri Lanka, and instead was named in the India A team for the practice match as the selectors wanted to assess his fitness before including him in the national side.

Rohit's latest knock would have pleased the selectors, who are likely to include him in the Indian team for the last two ODIs and hope that he extends his good form.

Pandey, who had earned his maiden call-up to the Indian squad for the one-off T20I against West Indies - only for the tour to be called off abruptly - has sent a strong signal to the Indian selectors with this knock.

The Karnataka batsman, who has been in superb form, had earlier stated that he would be eager to cement his place in the Indian team if given an opportunity. With innings like these, he has certainly knocked hard at the selectors' doors and it may not be long before he finds a place in the Indian squad.

This was Sri Lanka's lone practice game before the the five-match ODI series against India, which starts on November 2.