Young fast bowlers Gurjapneet Singh, Arshad Khan and Yash Thakur will be eager to prove their mettle and establish themselves as answers to the senior side’s current resource scarcity in the pace department when India A take on Australia A in a three-match one-day series starting on Tuesday. The series garnered a lot of attention as it was supposed to mark flamboyant superstar Hardik Pandya’s return to competitive cricket, but a right shin injury has ruled him out for an indefinite period. As far as seam-bowling all-rounders are concerned, Indian cricket does not have multiple options, with Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Suryansh Shedge being the top three at the moment.
Shedge, who had just completed his rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence, has replaced Pandya in the India A side.
Naman Dhir, who has now linked up with the India seniors for the T20Is, has been replaced by the ever-improving Anukul Roy.
The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side boasts a star-studded batting unit, with the skipper himself, Devdutt Padikkal, B Sai Sudharsan and Rajat Patidar all having played for the senior national team.
However, for the national selectors led by Pragyan Ojha, the bigger concern is the search for quality ODI bowlers coming through the pathway teams.
One interesting aspect of the India A team is that both Gurjapneet and Arshad are left-arm seamers, while Yash is a right-arm pacer.
During India A’s tri-series in Sri Lanka, Arshad bowled impressively in the death overs and can also contribute with the bat lower down the order, making him an interesting proposition.
All three have very decent List A records, although Gurjapneet (9 games, 17 wickets) and Arshad (11 games, 15 wickets) have not played as much as Thakur (57 games, 90 wickets).
However, all three have economy rates of less than six runs per over, which is impressive considering the restrictions that come with the ODI format.
It will be interesting to see how they measure up against a line-up featuring players such as Sam Konstas and Nathan McSweeney, both of whom have played for their national side.
The new crop of bowlers, including Auqib Nabi and Anshul Kamboj, have failed to impress on their respective ODI debuts.
Gurnoor Brar is still a work in progress, Prasidh Krishna has been erratic, Mohammed Siraj has lost form and Harshit Rana has remained perennially injured.
Against this backdrop, the pace troika will be keen to prove itself and send a strong message to the national selection committee ahead of the ODI leg of the tour of New Zealand.
Save for Jasprit Bumrah, none of the Indian pacers are confirmed selections for that tour.
Squads
India A: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Devdutt Padikkal, B Sai Sudharsan, Priyansh Arya, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Suryansh Shedge, Rajat Patidar, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Arshin Kulkarni, Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Yash Thakur, Gurjapneet Singh, Arshad Khan, Anukul Roy.
Australia A: Aaron Hardie, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Lachlan Shaw, Riley Meredith, Ben Dwarshuis, Nikhil Chaudhary, Mahli Beardman, Mitch Owen, Jack Edwards, Tanveer Sangha, Spencer Johnson, Todd Murphy, Will Sutherland.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Neeraj Chopra Wins Silver, Yashvir Singh Bronze As India Seal Double Podium In CWG Javelin
Topics mentioned in this article
