Who will captain India A in the 2024 Duleep Trophy second round match in Shubman Gill's absence?
Opening batter Shubman Gill captained India A in the team's 2024 Duleep Trophy first round match against India B. The four-day game was played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru from September 5 to September 8. India A lost the match by 76 runs as Gill failed to make an impact. He got starts but ended up registering scores of 25 and 21 in the two innings respectively.
With the 25-year-old being named in the Indian squad for the first Test against Bangladesh, he has not been picked in the India A squad for the second round match of the 2024 Duleep Trophy. In his absence, Karnataka opener Mayank Agarwal will lead India A against India D in the second round match at the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur from September 12 to September 15.
The 33-year-old right-handed batter also had a disappointing first round Duleep Trophy 2024 match against India B. The opener scored 36 in the first innings before being dismissed caught behind by Navdeep Saini. In the second innings, Agarwal was out for three, perishing to left-arm pacer Yash Dayal.
Pratham Singh named as Shubman Gill's replacement
With Gill being unavailable for the second round of the 2024 Duleep Trophy due to national commitment, Pratham Singh of Railways has been named as his replacement in the India A squad.
Pratham (32) has the experience of 29 first-class games and has scored 1568 runs at an average of 35.63, with one hundred and 10 fifties. He hit 169* against Tripura in a Ranji Trophy match in February.
Apart from Gill, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep Yadav and Akash Deep also won't represent India A in the second round of the 2024 Duleep Trophy. Akshay Wadkar (Vidarbha CA) has been named as Rahul's replacement, while SK Rasheed (Andhra CA) comes in for Jurel.
Mumbai left-arm spinner Shams Mulani has been picked in place of Kuldeep, while Aaqib Khan (UPCA) comes in for pacer Akash Deep.
India A updated squad for 2024 Duleep Trophy round two
Below is the updated India A squad for the second round of the 2024 Duleep Trophy to be played from September 12 to September 15.
India A squad: Mayank Agarwal (c), Riyan Parag, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat, Pratham Singh, Akshay Wadkar, SK Rasheed, Shams Mulani, Avesh Khan, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Aaqib Khan