India A suffered their second consecutive loss to Australia A, this time on the Melbourne Cricket Ground. For the second game running, the batting team was not up to its potential, which is a cause for worry as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is scheduled to begin on November 22. The side led by Ruturaj Gaikwad could only muster 161 runs from the first inning, of which 80 runs were accounted by Dhruv Jurel. Senior batter KL Rahul also had been included in the side, but he too did not make a mark, and that has put him in a tough situation ahead of the five-match series against Australia. Abhimanyu Easwaran also failed to make an impact. Among bowlers, Prasidh Krishna was impressive and picked four wickets, whereas Mukesh Kumar clinched three, but Australia A could manage a lead of 64 runs in the first innings. Also Read | 'We need to climb up the rankings,'- Asalanka Outlines Strategy Ahead Of New Zealand Series Not much changed for the visitors in the second inning. Again, the top order miserably failed as Easwaran departed for 17 runs, while Rahul made 10. Sai Sudharsan, Gaikwad, and Devdutt Padikkal scored 3, 11, and 1 run, respectively. Jurel was left to take the onus, and he delivered again, scoring 68 runs. Nitish Reddy and Tanush Kotian did well by scoring 38 and 44 runs, respectively, helping India post 229 runs on board. Australia's Corey Rocchiccioli took four wickets. Chasing 169 runs in the fourth inning, the hosts were facing some difficulties early on. Prasidh sent Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft back to the pavilion in the first over itself, which put Australia A on the backfoot. Soon after that, Mukesh dismissed Nathan McSweeney, and Kotian picked up the wicket of Oliver Davies, but since then, nothing has worked in India's favor. Sam Konstas was the standout player from Australia who played a brilliant knock of 73 runs as Australia A won the match by six wickets. Another thing that needs to be monitored is Gaikwad's captaincy, for apart from that flop batting show, some of his bowling changes look unnecessary.