Dhawan, Chand to lead India A squads against Bangladesh A

Dhawan, Chand to lead India A squads against Bangladesh A: Top order batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and Unmukt Chand will captain the India A teams for the three-day and one-day matches respectively against visiting Bangladesh A later this month. Dhawan’s inclusion in the side as captain indicates that his recovery has been well on track and gives him a chance to prove his match fitness ahead of a hectic schedule.

Right-handed Chand, who led India to their 2012 Under-19 World Cup win in Australia, will lead in the 3 one-day games to be played on September 16, 18, 20 at Bengaluru. The stylish batsman had earlier led India A to the title in a recently concluded tri-series, involving Australia A and South Africa A.

The visitors will then play a three-day game against reigning Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka between September 22 to 24 in Mysuru. The tour concludes with India A’s match against the tourists in Bangalore from September 27-29.

Apart from Dhawan, who missed the second and third Tests against Sri Lanka due to an injury, Suresh Raina has also been included with a view to give him the much-needed match practice ahead of the big tour of South Africa. The prolific batsman has not played competitive cricket since the Bangladesh ODI series in June. Also in the three-day squad are wicket keeper-batsman Naman Ojha – who made his debut at the SSC recently – and Ravindra Jadeja who was dropped from India’s Test squad in June. Karun Nair features in both the squads.

The one-day side includes Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey, who both had successful outings when India toured Zimbabwe for a short limited-overs series in July, while Sanju Samson has been given the wicket keeping duties. Bangladesh A are led by Test batsman Mominul Haque, one of 14 players in the squad with international experience.

Bangladesh A tour of India
Sept 16 – 1st one-dayer v India A, Bangalore
Sept 18 – 2nd one-dayer v India A, Bangalore
Sept 20 – 3rd one-dayer v India A, Bangalore
Sept 22-24 – Three-day match v Karnataka, Mysore
Sept 27-29 – Three day match v India A, Bangalore

India A squad –

For one-day games: Unmukt Chand (c), Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Kuldeep Yadav, Jayant Yadav, Karn Sharma, Rishi Dhawan, S. Aravind, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rush Kalaria, Gurkeerat Singh Mann.

For the 3 day game: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Abhinav Mukund, Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer, Baba Aparajith, Naman Ojha, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Shreyas Gopal, Abhimanyu Mithun, Varun Aaron, Ishwar Pandey, Sheldon Jackson.