Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal will lead India A in the upcoming three four-day 'Tests' against New Zealand A, scheduled to be played in Bengaluru and Hubli from September 1. The red-ball matches will be followed by a white-ball series, which will again see both the sides lock horns in three one-day encounters. BCCI announced the development on Wednesday evening.
The first and the third match will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The second encounter, which starts from September 8, will be played at the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium in Hubli.
Sarfaraaz Khan, who had a splendid outing in the Ranji Trophy earlier this year, is also part of the team. Ruturaj Gaikwad has also been included in the red-ball squad.
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{{/usCountry}}KS Bharat and Upendra Yadav will take charge of the wicketkeeping duties. The pace department features Prasidh Krishna and Umran Malik among others. Krishna has been part of the senior side on several occasion but had an average outing in England. Meanwhile, Malik, who has fallen behind Arshdeep Singh in the senior side, will look to make maximum use of this opportunity and make a case for himself.
The white-ball leg of the series starts from September 22 and all the three matches will be held at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The squad for the same has not been announced yet.
India A squad for four-day matches: Priyank Panchal (Captain), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraaz Khan, Tilak Varma, KS Bharat (wk), Upendra Yadav (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal, Arzan Nagwaswalla