India announce squad for two warm-up matches against England; Dhoni, Rahane captain
After announcing that he will no longer captain India in ODIs and T20Is, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will captain India once again but this time it will be the A team in the first of the two warm-up matches against England ahead of the ODI and T20I series. Ajinkya Rahane will captain the side in the second game, both of which will have Rahul Dravid overseeing the proceedings as coach.
The two practice matches will take place at the Bradbourne Stadium in Mumbai on January 10 and 12 ahead of the ODI series which begins on January 15 in Pune. Several Indian stars including the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Shikhar and Ashish Nehra will take part in the practice match.
With several Indian stars getting back to full fitness and the likes of MS Dhoni not having played much cricket since the conclusion of the ODI series against New Zealand, the two warm up matches will give the coach an idea of their fitness levels.
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Strong performances in this year’s Ranji Trophy has meant the likes of Deepak Hooda, Ishan Kishan, Shahbaz Nadeem and Kuldeep Yadav have made it into the India A side. While openers Abhinav Mukund and PK Panchal’s impressive record wasn’t enough to help them make the cut.
Yuvraj Singh, who will be making his ODI comeback, Ashish Nehra and Suresh Raina, who aren’t part of the ODI squad all feature in a strong India A team which consists of several in-form domestic stars and established Indian internationals.
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While the likes of Deepak Hooda and Ishan Kishan, both of whom did not make it into the squad for ODIs and T20Is have been in great form in this year’s Ranji Trophy, there are also some surprise selections in Mohit Sharma, Siddharth Kaul and Ashoke Dinda ahead of the likes of Shardul Thakur and Ishwar Pandey.
Following the two matches, India will take part in three ODIs and three T20Is, which kicks off with the first ODI in Pune on January 15. India won the Test series 4-0 and will be hoping to begin 2017 in a positive fashion.
India A team for 1st warm-up match: Shikhar Dhawan, Mandeep Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (Captain and Wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (Wicketkeeper), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashish Nehra, Mohit Sharma, Siddarth Kaul
India A team for 2nd warm-up match: Rishabh Pant (Wicketkeeper), Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Suresh Raina, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Kishan (Wicketkeeper), Sheldon Jackson (Wicketkeeper), Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem, Parvez Rasool, Vinay Kumar, Pradeep Sangwan, Ashoke Dinda