Shreyas Iyer
Left out of the Test scheme of things as well as the upcoming Asia Cup T20Is, Shreyas Iyer was on Saturday entrusted with leading the India A team in the two unofficial four-day games against Australia A in Lucknow.
Senior India players KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj will be available for the second fixture, while all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is making a comeback from a knee injury which he suffered after the third Test during India’s tour of England.
Iyer, not picked even among the reserves for the Asia Cup beginning Tuesday, is currently turning out for West Zone in the Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone in Bengaluru.
The first unofficial Test will be played from September 16-19 and the second from September 23-26 at the Ekana Stadium.
Karun Nair, who had suffered an injury while batting in the fifth and final Test at The Oval against England and had also missed the Maharaja Trophy (KSCA T20 tournament), has not been named in the side.
India wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who played the fifth Test, has been named Iyer’s deputy.
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Rahul and Siraj will join the squad for the second multi-day match as they will get quality match practice ahead of home Test series against the West Indies and South Africa.
India’s home season begins with a two-match Test series against the West Indies, with the first match to be played at Ahmedabad from October 2.
The India A squad includes Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter N Jagadeesan, who was called up as a cover for the fifth Test in England.
Jagadeesan scored a brilliant 197 (352 balls, 16 fours and 2 sixes) for South Zone in their Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone.
Mumbai’s Tanush Kotian, who had received a maiden Test call up during the tour of Australia earlier this year, also finds a place in the India A side along with two players from Vidarbha — Harsh Dubey and Yash Thakur.
Dubey had set the record for most wickets for any bowler in the history of the Ranji Trophy last season when he took 69 wickets for Vidarbha in their title-winning run.
Among batters, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal have been named along with Delhi skipper Ayush Badoni, who received his maiden call-up.
The fast bowling line-up includes India pacers Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Thakur and Punjab’s lanky pacer Gurnoor Brar, who has also been a regular nets bowler for the national side.
Dubey, Kotian and Rajasthan’s Manav Suthar are among the spinners.
The Australian A squad includes several Test players from the country as young batters Sam Konstas, who had a fiery debut against India last season, has been named along with Nathan McSweeney for the tour.
These two batters had competed for the second opening slot for Australia during their Border-Gavaskar Trophy series win over India.
The Australian A side also includes Test players 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
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