Ruturaj Gaikwad is set to captain the India A team on their upcoming tour to Australia later this month. The talented right-handed batter, who has made a name for himself in both domestic and international cricket, is considered a great fit to lead the 15-player squad. Under his leadership, the team gets ready for two four-day matches against Australia A in Mackay and Melbourne.
With Ruturaj Gaikwad, the India A team includes other top openers like Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan. Easwaran has been in excellent form this domestic season, scoring centuries in the Duleep Trophy, Irani Trophy, and Ranji Trophy while playing for West Bengal.
Meanwhile, the 23-year-old Sudharsan has also been performing well. He has scored a century in first-class cricket for Surrey and a double century for Tamil Nadu in the current Ranji Trophy.
These players might be trying to earn a place in India’s senior Test squad, as the team may need a backup opener for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. This is because Rohit Sharma is likely to miss one of the first two matches due to personal reasons.
The middle-order will become stronger with the addition of Devdutt Padikkal, B Indrajith, and Ricky Bhui. All three have done well in domestic cricket, with Indrajith providing the experience and calmness needed for the team. Abishek Porel and Ishan Kishan will take care of the wicket-keeping duties during the tour.
The squad also includes all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who recently recovered from a hernia and made his T20I debut for India against Bangladesh. Reddy is now a reserve player for India’s Test series against New Zealand and is considered a future talent for the national team. Tanush Kotian and Manav Suthar will also join him as allrounders in the squad.
The fast-bowling team will include experienced pacers like Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, and Yash Dayal. This group is expected to provide the needed strength against Australia A, helping India A handle the challenge of playing on difficult Australian pitches.
India A will play two four-day matches against Australia A, one in Mackay on October 31 and another in Melbourne on November 7. After these matches, they will have a warm-up game against the senior Indian team in Perth from November 15 to 17, before the first Test between India and Australia on November 22.
This tour is also important as it will give a chance to players to practice for the much-needed Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The Border-Gavaskar trophy is set to start on November 22, where this series will decide the fate of both teams in the ongoing ICC World’s Test Championship.
India A Squad for the Australia Tour
Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan, B Indrajith, Abishek Porel (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Mukesh Kumar, Ricky Bhui, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Manav Suthar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Tanush Kotian, Yash Dayal.
Currently, team India is taking on New Zealand in the three-match Test series. The match is happening at Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium where team India team India had a bad outing while batting in the first innings winning the toss. Rohit Sharma and the company were dismissed on just 46 runs where Rishabh Pant(20) and Yashasvi Jaiswal(13) are the only two players who reached the figure mark.
While batting in the first inning, the visitors New Zealand bundled out 402 runs, thanks to the excellent hundred by Rachin Ravindra and a class inning by Devon Conway who scored 99. Tim Southee also scored a half-century where he got 65 runs and not only this, the experienced New Zealand bowler also broke the record of Indian opener Virender Sehwag in terms of scoring the most sixes in Test match career.
