Left out of the senior Test squad and the upcoming Asia Cup T20Is, Shreyas Iyer has been entrusted with leading the India A team in two unofficial four-day matches against Australia A in Lucknow.
Iyer, who was not even picked among the reserves for the Asia Cup starting Tuesday, is currently representing West Zone in the Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone in Bengaluru. Karun Nair, injured in India’s fifth Test at The Oval, has been left out. Dhruv Jurel, who featured in that Test, has been named vice-captain.
The first game will be played from September 16-19, followed by the second from September 23-26 at the Ekana Stadium. Senior India players KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj will join for the second fixture, while all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy returns from a knee injury sustained during India’s England tour.
The India A squad features several promising players across batting and bowling. Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter N Jagadeesan, who scored 197 for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy semi-final, has been included, along with Mumbai’s Tanush Kotian, Vidarbha duo Harsh Dubey and Yash Thakur, and Rajasthan spinner Manav Suthar.
Also read: Shreyas deserved a place in Test squad: Ganguly
Batters Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, and Delhi skipper Ayush Badoni, who received his maiden call-up, complete the line-up. The pace attack comprises Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Thakur, and Punjab’s lanky pacer Gurnoor Brar, who has been a regular in national nets. Dubey also doubles as a spinner in the squad.
The Australian A squad includes several Test players, with batters Sam Konstas and Nathan McSweeney, who competed for a second opener slot in last season’s Border-Gavaskar series, alongside Cooper Connolly and Todd Murphy.
Squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran, N Jagadeesan (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (vc & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Ayush Badoni, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, Yash Thakur.
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