Ruturaj Gaikwad to lead India A on tour of Australia

NewsThe series could provide match practice, or serve as an audition, for a couple of back-up players likely to be picked in the Test squad

With the BCCI naming him captain, Gaikwad, who has begun his Ranji Trophy season with scores of 86, 0 and 145 for Maharashtra, has emerged as a strong contender for the role of reserve opener for India’s five-Test tour of Australia, which will closely follow India A’s tour. That role has gained extra significance with India captain and opener Rohit Sharma set to miss one of the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series for personal reasons.

Apart from Gaikwad, the 15-member India A squad also includes two other candidates for that role in Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has been named vice-captain, and Sai Sudharsan.

The matches against Australia A could provide match practice, or serve as an audition, for a couple of other back-up players likely to be picked in the Test squad. Devdutt Padikkal, B Indrajith and Ricky Bhui are set to be the middle-order batters in the India A squad; Abishek Porel and Ishan Kishan the wicket-keepers; Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian and Manav Suthar the allrounders; and Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed and Yash Dayal the fast bowlers.

Easwaran, 29, has been part of India’s Test squad previously – in Bangladesh in 2022 – and he has been in superb form this domestic season, scoring two hundreds in the Duleep Trophy, another century in the Irani Trophy, and beginning the Ranji Trophy season with a ton for Bengal. Sudharsan, 23, made a first-class hundred for English county Surrey in August, before scoring a century in the Duleep Trophy and a double-hundred in Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy match in Delhi.

Having recovered from a hernia, 21-year-old allrounder Reddy made his T20I debut for India against Bangladesh earlier this month and is currently a reserve player in India’s Test squad for the home series against New Zealand. He is seen by India’s selectors as a promising allrounder who could improve with more experience and exposure.

India opt for intra-squad warm-up

India A are scheduled to play Australia A in two four-day matches in Mackay from October 31 to November 3 and in Melbourne from November 7 to 10. They will then play the India squad in a warm-up match in Perth from November 15 to 17 before the first Test against Australia begins on November 22.

India have opted for this intra-squad game as their warm-up to the Test rather than a practice match against an Australian domestic side. This is a departure from their preference on their last two tours of Australia. They began the red-ball leg of their 2020-21 tour with a three-day game against Australia A, and played a four-day game against a Cricket Australia XI before their Test series in 2018.19.

India A squad for tour of Australia
Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Abhimanyu Easwaran (vice-capt), 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.

October 21, GMT 1700 The article was updated after the BCCI announced the India A squad.