Shreyas Iyer has been handed the captaincy of the 15-member India A squad for the upcoming two multi-day matches against Australia A in Lucknow later this month. Nitish Kumar Reddy, who recently suffered a knee injury during the England tour, has also made it to the squad.
Key Inclusions in the India A Squad
First-choice Test players KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj have been included but will only feature in the second game. For Iyer, who last played a Test in February 2024 against England in Visakhapatnam, this series is a vital opportunity to push his case for India’s upcoming Test series against West Indies starting October 2.
Reddy, who had featured in the England Tests earlier this year before being sidelined, has shown promising recovery.
“𝑶𝒏 𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒂𝒊 𝑺𝒖𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑲𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝑪𝑪𝑰’𝒔 𝑪𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆,” 𝒂 𝑩𝑪𝑪𝑰 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅.
Fresh Faces and Notable Absentees
The squad features Prasidh Krishna, Sai Sudharsan, and Abhimanyu Easwaran, all of whom played in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy that ended in a 2-2 draw. N Jagadeesan, who was drafted into the squad for the England tour’s final Test, also finds a place. Dhruv Jurel has been named vice-captain and returns after recovering from injury.
Young batter Ayush Badoni, fresh off his double-hundred in the Duleep Trophy, has earned a deserved call-up.
“𝑩𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒊 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍,” 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅.
Meanwhile, seamers Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Thakur, and Gurnoor Brar strengthen the pace department, while Manav Suthar, Harsh Dubey, and Tanush Kotian provide spin options. Notably, Karun Nair (finger injury), Shardul Thakur, and Sarfaraz Khan miss out.
Schedule Ahead
The two four-day matches will be played on September 16 and September 23 in Lucknow. Following that, India A will also play three one-dayers in Kanpur.
India A Squad for Australia Series
Shreyas Iyer (capt), Abhimanyu Easwaran, N Jagadeesan (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (vice-capt, wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Ayush Badoni, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, Yash Thakur, KL Rahul*, Mohammed Siraj*
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