Shreyas Iyer, who was excluded from the Test squad and the upcoming Asia Cup T20Is, was appointed captain of the India A team for the two unofficial four-day games against Australia A in Lucknow on Saturday. Mohammed Siraj and KL Rahul, two senior Indian players, will be available for the second match.
Iyer is now playing for West Zone in the Duleep Trophy semi-final versus Central Zone in Bengaluru, as he was not even selected among the reserves for the Asia Cup starting Tuesday.
The Ekana Stadium will host the first unofficial Test from September 16–19 and the second from September 23–26.
Karun Nair, who missed the Maharaja Trophy (KSCA T20 event) and was injured while batting in the fifth and final Test match against England at The Oval, has not been included in the squad.
Iyer’s deputy will be keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who participated in the fifth Test match in England. In preparation for their upcoming home Test series against South Africa and the West Indies, Rahul and Siraj will be included in the squad for the second multi-day match.
A two-match Test series against the West Indies kicks off India’s home season. The opening game is scheduled for October 2 in Ahmedabad.
Tamil Nadu batsman-wicketkeeper N Jagadeesan, who was called up as a cover for the fifth Test match in England, is part of the India A team. Against North Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal, Jagadeesan scored an incredible 197 (352 balls, 16 fours, and 2 sixes) for South Zone.
Tanush Kotian of Mumbai, who was called up for the first time for a Test match during the Australian tour earlier this year, joins Harsh Dubey and Yash Thakur, two Vidarbha players, in the India A team. Last season, during Vidarbha’s journey to the title, Dubey grabbed 69 wickets, setting a new record for the most wickets taken by a bowler in the history of the Ranji Trophy.
Along with Delhi captain Ayush Badoni, who was called up for the first time, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sai Sudharsan, and Devdutt Padikkal were picked as batters. India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy was also named in the A team.
The fast bowling lineup consists of Punjab’s lanky pacer Gurnoor Brar, who has also been a consistent nets bowler for the national team, as well as India’s Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, and Thakur.
Among the spinners are Dubey, Kotian, and Manav Suthar of Rajasthan.
Young batsmen Sam Konstas and Nathan McSweeney, who made a scorching debut against India last season, are among the Test players included in the Australian A team.
During their victory over India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, these two batsmen had competed for Australia’s second opening spot.
Todd Murphy and Cooper Connolly are also Test players on the Australian A team.
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
