All three teams are in contention for the IPL 2025 playoffs.
Earlier today, the BCCI released the India A squad for the upcoming assignments in England. The Abhimanyu Easwaran-led team will play two four-day games against the England Lions on May 30 and June 6. The intra-squad game will be played on June 13.
The extension of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 final from May 25 to June 3 may have impacted travel arrangements. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, part of the Gujarat Titans squad, are expected to join the team before the second match. The main squad will travel later.
However, the India A squad is missing a few prominent names who could’ve joined Gill and Sudharsan on the flight. Let’s look at three such players. Coincidentally, each of them is leading an IPL team this edition.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper was in red-hot form during the 2024-25 season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Ranji Trophy. Rajat Patidar led his team, Madhya Pradesh, in the shorter format to practice leadership skills ahead of the IPL 2025. He returned as his team’s second-highest run-getter with 226 runs from six matches.
Patidar replicated his success in the longer format with 529 runs in 11 innings at a decent average of 48.09. In the process, he also struck a century and two fifties.
The 31-year-old made his Test debut and featured in three matches when England toured India last year. But his performance was not up to the mark as he could manage only 63 runs as he fell to the English spinners.
The new leader started well in IPL 2025 as well, however, he hasn’t crossed the 25-run mark in the last five RCB matches. Additionally, his recent finger injury may have played a role in influencing the selectors.
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A shocking exclusion is of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper, Shreyas Iyer. The Mumbai batter has turned heads with his purple patch. In the ongoing IPL, he is about to become only the third captain to push PBKS into the top four. He has also proven his worth with the bat too, scoring 405 runs in 11 innings at a healthy average of 50.62.
Shreyas scored two centuries each in the Ranji Trophy and VHT. In the longer format, he averaged 68.57. In the List A games, he remained not out four out of five times to raise his average to a mammoth 325. The 30-year-old was also involved in India’s successful Champions Trophy 2025 campaign as he made 243 runs, just 20 short of the top run-getter of the tournament.
Despite showcasing his talent, Shreyas has been left out of the India A squad, reportedly due to concerns among some selectors about his ability to handle swing and short-pitched bowling. He appears to be on the wrong side of the selectors’ opinion once again.
The Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper has been key for India in ODIs and the home Test series. Since his Test debut in 2021, Axar has played 12 games in India. He has collected 47 wickets with a BBI of 6/38 and a BBM of 11/70. Notably, in terms of overseas tours, he has featured in two Bangladesh Tests, taking eight wickets.
Due to a lack of experience in English conditions (no ODIs in England and only one wicketless T20I), the BCCI may have ignored this spin all-rounder. Also, India already have three spinners in Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Washington Sundar.
Furthermore, Axar’s dip in form is noticeable in the ongoing IPL. Though DC have performed well enough to stay in contention for the playoffs, Axar hasn’t been effective with the ball. He has returned with only five wickets in 11 games so far.
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