Easwaran to lead India A, Karun Nair returns
Mumbai: Abhimanyu Easwaran named captain of India A for matches against England Lions, serving as prep for upcoming Test series in England.
Mumbai: Abhimanyu Easwaran, who was in the running to make a Test debut in Australia, was, on Friday, named captain of the 18-member India A squad to take on England Lions.
Shubman Gill, frontrunner to become the next Test captain, and Tamil Nadu opener Sai Sudharsan will reach England in time for the second of the three red-ball matches, which will serve as a dress rehearsal for India’s upcoming five-Test series in England starting June 20.
The first of the three tour matches will be played from May 30 to June 2. This match will serve as an opportunity for Easwaran, 29, a prolific scorer in domestic cricket, to push his case. It will primarily involve players whose IPL teams are out (like Yashasvi Jaiswal) or likely to miss out on playoff qualification.
An exception has been made for Delhi Capitals’ Karun Nair, an indication that the middle order batter is in contention for a Test comeback; more so considering the middle order shakeup in the offing after Virat Kohli’s retirement.
The squad also marks the return of Ishan Kishan to red-ball contention. After losing his national contract last year for giving domestic cricket a miss, the Jharkhand wicket-keeper batter is slowly making his way back. With the arrival of Dhruv Jurel though, Kishan may still have to bide his time for the second wicketkeeper’s berth behind Rishabh Pant.
Interestingly, both the pace bowling all-rounders Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur have been named for India A.
While Nitish made his mark in his debut series in Australia, scoring a hundred at Melbourne, he wasn’t quite up to scratch with the ball. There is a possibility that selectors could pick both Nitish and Thakur in the main squad to offer the team management more all-round options in the playing 11. Thakur, who Nitish replaced in Australia, is a more seasoned bowling resource with experience of English conditions.
The selectors have picked plenty of fast bowlers in the A squad from Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Tushar Deshpande and left-armer Khaleel Ahmed. With Jasprit Bumrah unlikely to feature in all the Test matches to manage his workload and Mohammed Shami’s bowling form under a scanner, the shadow tour will serve an opportunity for the team management to narrow down on the options for the opening Test at Leeds.
Similarly, batter Sarfaraz Khan would look to use the opportunity to stake his claim after getting no game time in the last series in Australia. Sarfaraz had made an impressive beginning to his Test career with plenty of runs at home – three fifties against England and 150 in Bengaluru against New Zealand. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has always been on the fringes of selection, has made it back, recovering from his elbow injury.
Off-spinner Tanush Kotian, who was a late addition in Australia and left-arm spinners Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey are the three spinners picked.
The last of the three tour matches will be an intra-squad match to be played against the India senior team, starting June 13 at Beckenham.
