India 'A' squad announced for four-day matches against Australia 'A'
The national senior selection committee has announced the India 'A' squad for the upcoming four-day matches at home against Australia 'A'. Shreyas Iyer leads a strong contingent which contains two nationally capped players in Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj.
There are quite a few changes from the squad that had played the recently completed four-day matches against South Africa 'A'. The biggest among those is the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav.
Kuldeep found himself left out from the Indian squad named for the last two Tests in England. With conditions proving to be in favour of seamers, the selectors opted for an extra batsman to bolster the underwhelming department.
As a consequence, the chinaman exponent will instead get some much needed red-ball experience under his belt by turning out for India 'A' in the two four-day matches against the visiting Australia 'A' side.
Aside from Kuldeep, the spin attack sees another high-profile change. Off-spinning all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham takes the place of Yuzvendra Chahal. The leg-spinner has been excluded in a bid to prepare for the upcoming Asia Cup tournament.
Experienced left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem retains his place in the squad. On the other hand, off-spinning all-rounder Jayant Yadav does not find a spot. Axar Patel was not available for selection due to his County commitment with Durham.
The promotion of Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari to the Test squad for the last two matches against England has resulted in Shubman Gill entering the 'A' team. The promising 18-year old has played two first-class matches in his fledgling career thus far.
Both four-day matches between India 'A' and Australia 'A' will be held in Vizag.
India 'A' squad: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Ravikumar Samarth, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ankit Bawne, Shubman Gill, Kona Srikar Bharat (wicket-keeper), Shahbaz Nadeem, Kuldeep Yadav, Krishnappa Gowtham, Rajneesh Gurbani, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj and Ankit Rajpoot