Seven India 'A' players short on match practice

In less than a week, the India A team will leave for the West Indies but at least half of the members of the squad are woefully short of proper match practice as they embark on a tour that will be an indicator of senior team's bench strength in the coming season.

In less than a week, the India A team will leave for the West Indies but at least half of the members of the squad are woefully short of proper match practice as they embark on a tour that will be an indicator of senior team's bench strength in the coming season.

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Out of the 15-member squad, there are atleast seven players who haven't played any significant competitive match for more than month-and-half even as the Cheteshwar Pujara-led team will play their first four-day 'Test' match against West Indies 'A' from June 2-5.

Some of the key players who haven't played any quality competitive matches (club matches excluded) are skipper Cheteshwar Pujara, vice-captain Wriddhiman Saha, Robin Bist, Abhinav Mukund, Akshay Darekar, Shami Ahmed and Jalaj Saxena. A short three-day conditioning camp will be held from May 27-29 before the team leaves for the Caribbean Islands.

Skipper Pujara had last played an IPL match on April 12 for RCB while his deputy Saha played the last of his four IPL matches on April 28. He got a chance to bat only once.