According to ESPNcricinfo, India will send as many as three openers in the India A squad before the main event.
With Rohit Sharma set to miss one of the first two Tests in Australia later in the year, the Indian team has started preparing for the backup opener. According to ESPNcricinfo, India will send as many as three openers in the India A squad before the main event.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, the captain of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), looks set to lead India A on the tour, even though his recent returns in red-ball cricket haven’t been encouraging. While he played a fine knock of 86 runs, his overall form has been concerning, but the management has shown faith in him and handed him the captaincy duties.
Further, Abhimanyu Easwaran, among the most consistent batters in the domestic arena, will be the second opener in the squad. His last six scores across First Class cricket read: 5, 127*, 191, 116, 19 & 157*, making him a perfect candidate to replace Rohit, even though the team would test him in Australia by including him in India A.
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Sai Sudharsan, who scored a magnificent double-century against a formidable Delhi attack earlier in the day, will be the third opener. The series against Australia A will be an audition for these three openers to replace the Indian captain in his absence.
Meanwhile, other consistent performers in domestic cricket like Devdutt Padikkal and Baba Indrajith will be part of the middle order on the tour. Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has had a dream debut series against Bangladesh, will also travel with the unit.
Ishan Kishan, who is no longer on the BCCI’s central contract list, and Abishek Porel, will be the wicketkeepers. Tanush Kotian, the off-spinner, and Manav Suthar, the left-arm orthodox, have been the two most consistent spinners and will form the spin attack of India A.
Two left-arm pacers – Khaleel Ahmed and Yash Dayal – and Mukesh Kumar and Navdeep Saini will also be in the squad. All of them have bowled well in red-ball cricket lately and will rightly get the rewards.
The first encounter between Australia A and India A will kick off on October 31 in McKay before the caravan moves to Melbourne for the second game, starting November 7. India will also play a warm-up fixture in Perth from November 15 to November 17 before the first Test against Australia.
India A squad for tour of Australia as per ESPNcricinfo: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan, B Indrajith, Abishek Porel (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Mukesh Kumar, Ricky Bhui, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Manav Suthar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Tanush Kotian, Yash Dayal.
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