Teenage batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was included in the 15-man India A team on Thursday for the tri-nation 50-over series that will begin on June 9 in Sri Lanka.
Afghanistan A is the other squad competing in the competition, aside from the hosts. Dambulla will host the games. The squad for India A’s two multi-day (4-day) “Tests” in Galle will be revealed later.
It is believed that Sooryavanshi was included because the selectors wanted to give him an opportunity to try out with the Pathways group (India A) before to selecting him for the senior team for the forthcoming tour of the United Kingdom (Ireland and England) beginning on June 26. On June 21, the tri-nation series comes to a close.
The average age of the team, which consists of 15 players, is approximately 23. The only bowlers older than 25 are Yudhvir Singh, Yash Thakur, and Arshad Khan. In addition to having contracts with the IPL squad, every member of the team is under thirty years old and has participated in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (National One Day Championship).
Sooryavanshi (Rajasthan Royals), Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Suryansh Shedge (both PBKS), Harsh Dubey (SRH), Nishant Sindhu, Arshad Khan (both GT), and Badoni (LSG) have all been first team regulars at different times this IPL season, aside from Tilak Varma and vice-captain Riyan Parag, who are the mainstays for MI and Rajasthan Royals, respectively.
While Ayush Badoni was selected for the Indian squad earlier this year despite not playing, Anshul Kamboj (Test), Riyan Parag, and Tilak Varma (T20Is and ODIs) had already played for the senior team.
While Arya got a hundred against Australia A last year, Tilak previously captained the India A team. The two wicketkeepers are Prabhsimran and Kumar Kushagra, while the spinners are Dubey, Shedge, and Vipraj Nigam.
India A will play Afghanistan A twice (June 11 and 17) and Sri Lanka A twice (June 9 and 15). The top two teams will square off in the June 21 final.
India A squad for the tri-series: Tilak Varma (Captain), Priyansh Arya, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Riyan Parag (Vice-Captain), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Harsh Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Kumar Kushagra (WK), Vipraj Nigam, Yash Thakur, Yudhvir Singh, Anshul Kamboj, Arshad Khan
