Hardik Pandya named captain of India A for warm-up game against Australia

Indian seam bowling allrounder Hardik Pandya has been given the responsibility of captaining the India A team for the three-day warm-up match against the touring Australia team at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai from February 16.

Pandya is the only member of the 15-man squad who has an India cap. The other names included are the youngsters who have done well in the recently concluded season of the Ranji Trophy. Leading run-scorer of the tournament Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal and the leading wicket-taker of the season Jharkhand left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem have also been picked for the important game.

Mumbai opener Akhil Herwadkar who also had a successful opener is the other opener his teammate Shreyas Iyer is also a part of the India A team. Among batsmen, Maharashtra’s Ankit Bawne who was one part of the record 687-run partnership in the Ranji Trophy remaining unbeaten on 258 has been rewarded with a spot as well.

Young wicketkeeper batsmen pair of Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan also feature in the squad. Two unknown Services left-handed batsman Rahul Singh and Tamil Nadu’s Baba Indrajith famous for his India U19 exploits are the reserve batsmen.

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Karnataka off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham and Uttar Pradesh chinaman Kuldeep Yadav are the other two spinners along with Nadeem. The pace attack comprises of Bengal veteran Ashok Dinda, Hyderabad’s Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini from Delhi both the bowlers might not have extraordinary figures but are looked at as the ones for the bigger role.

India A squad for Australia game:

Hardik Pandya (C), Akhil Herwadkar, Priyank Panchal, Shreyas Iyer, Ankit Bawne, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan (WK), Shahbaz Nadeem, Krishnappa Gowtham, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Ashok Dinda, Mohammed Siraj, Rahul Singh, Baba Indrajith