The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced India A squads for the tour of New Zealand set to take place alongside the tour of Australia.
The first of the three four-day games will likely serve as a warm-up game for the opening Test against Australia in Adelaide. Under the keen and observant eye of Rahul Dravid, the A side would be looking to adapt their game to the Australian conditions and pick up some tips from the veteran Indian batsman.
Unlike the tour of South Africa and England, where practice matches for the first team players were not a priority, the selectors have named an India A side with Ajinkya Rahane as captain for the first four-day game. Along with Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay and Parthiv Patel, all making a comeback to the Indian Test side, are likely to feature in the game to get accustomed to the Australian conditions. Hanuma Vihari and Prithvi Shaw have also been added.
Karun Nair will lead the side for the remaining two four-day games, with Mayank Agarwal, who has been dropped from the Test side despite not having played a game, also in the mix. Shubman Gill, who was in terrific form in the recently concluded Deodhar Trophy, has also made the cut, rejoining with his coach from the victorious U-19 World Cup campaign earlier this year.
India A Squads:
1st four-day game:
Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Murali Vijay, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), K Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Rajneesh Gurbani, Vijay Shankar, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper)
2nd and 3rd four-day game:
Karun Nair (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, R Samarth, Ankit Bawne, Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), K Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Rajneesh Gurbani
