India A vs England Lions: BCCI announces the 14-man squad for the first four-day game

India A have dominated the England Lions in the ongoing five-match unofficial One-Day series and are leading by 4-0. They will be looking to whitewash them and gain an upper hand ahead of the two four-day matches scheduled to start from February 7. In the meantime, the BCCI has announced the 14-man squad for the first match and Ankit Bawne has been named the skipper of the side.

According to the BCCI press release, KL Rahul has been given another opportunity to regain his form and he is expected to open the innings along with Abhimanyu Easwaran. Shardul Thakur who couldn’t complete his first over on Test debut is also back in the mix for the longest format while the likes of Priyank Panchal, KS Bharat, Siddhesh Lad and Ricky Bhui among others are also part of the squad.

Last chance for Rahul?

This will be the last chance for KL Rahul it seems at the top of the order before going into the grind again. His poor run on South Africa, England and Australia tours has led to the selectors dropping him from the team. He also struggled in the home series against the Windies in October and looked low on confidence since then.

He was not even the first choice opener during the Australia series. But an untimely injury to Prithvi Shaw spared him. However, the cricketer’s failure didn’t stop and his ways of getting out were all too familiar.

This series is also a great opportunity for the likes of Jalaj Saxena, Mayank Markande and Navdeep Saini to stake their claim in the national side.

India A squad for the first four-day game: Ankit Bawne (C), KL Rahul, AR Easwaran, Priyank Panchal, Ricky Bhui, Siddhesh Lad, K.S. Bharat (WK), Jalaj Saxena, S Nadeem, Mayank Markande, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Varun Aaron.

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