India A, South Africa A and Australia A clash in one-day tri series

India A, South Africa A and Australia A clash in one-day tri series: The upcoming tri-series between the A sides of India, South Africa and Australia is set to be an exciting outing as the young brigade looks to impress their respective national selectors in an attempt to break into their limited over sides. While India A would be looking to impose its dominance in ODI cricket at home, South Africa and Australia will try their best to fly back home with the trophy. The series is not expected to be an easy one for either of the sides. The last time these teams were involved in a tri nation tournament it was an intensely contested one.

Unmukt Chand, the former Under-19 captain, will be leading India A in the series. Chand, was expected to be the next big thing in Indian cricket when he made that fabulous century in the under 19 world cup final and won India the tournament. But to everyone’s disappointment things haven’t quite turned out that way. The previous Ranji Trophy season was not a productive for Chand, as he sat on the bench most of the time.

Karun Nair, who is the deputy to Chand will want to justify the faith reposed in him, while Karan Sharma, the young leggie who missed the Zimbabwe tour due to a fractured finger will look to get things right after injury. Rahul Dravid’s team, after a decent showing in the first unofficial Test in Chennai, surprisingly surrendered in the second, and that too despite having Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli in the side. Dravid will hope for a better performance from his side this time around, with the one-day and four-day teams wearing different looks.

The tri-series is scheduled for 5-14 August, and will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. South Africa and Australia will clash in the first encounter on Wednesday. This is the third straight year that the three countries have engaged in ‘A’ series, having played a tri-series in Pretoria in 2013, and a quadrangular series in Australia last year that also included an Australian National Performance Squad.

South Africa A coach, Vinnie Barnes, is looking forward to seeing his players being “stretched” by some stiff opposition on the tour. The South African side will look to hit their straps and take some good form into the unofficial Tests with India A later. Rilee Rossouw, Mthokozisi Shezi, Kagiso Rabada, Simon Harmer and Reeza Hendricks have all gone on to represent their national sides after playing in the last tri nation tournament involving these sides.

South Africa will have plenty to plan when they will encounter seasoned one-day players such as James Pattinson, Matthew Wade, Callum Ferguson and Nathan Coulter-Nile of Australia. The Aussies performed above expectations in the recently concluded unofficial Tests and managed to beat a strong Indian outfit 1-0. Ashton Agar and Gurinder Sandhu will look to translate their good form from the 4 day games into the one day tri-series. Pattinson will accompany Sandhu in the pace department and together they will make a worthy pair. Cameron Boyce, the leg spinner will take heart from the performance of the spinners in the Tests and will be eager to make an impact. Matthew Wade and Callum Ferguson will provide the much needed experienced having played in India before.

India A one day squad:

Unmukt Chand (c), Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair (vice-captain), Kedar Jadhav, Sanju Sanson, Axar Patel, Parvez Rasool, Karn Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni, Sandeep Sharma, Rush Kalaria, Mandeep Singh, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Rishi Dhawan.

Australia A one-day squad:

Usman Khawaja (c), Matthew Wade, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Cameron Boyce, Joe Burns, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Callum Ferguson, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, James Pattinson, Gurinder Sandhu, Adam Zampa.

South Africa A one-day squad:

Dean Elgar (c), Cody Chetty, Theunis de Bruyn, Marchant de Lange, Cameron Delport, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Eddie Leie, Keshav Maharaj, Omphile Ramela, Mthokozisi Shezi, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Dane Vilas, David Wiese, Khaya Zondo.