IPL stars to play Australia in the practice match in Chennai

BCCI has rewarded the IPL performers, as the likes of Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi and Washington Sundor were included in the Board President’s XI for the practice match against Australia to be held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on September 12. Steve Smith’s men will begin the series with a 5-match ODI series, starting on September 17. The Australian players are expected to arrive in Chennai in the second week of this month.

Former Indian cricketer Hemang Badani has been named the coach of the side. Badani has recently tasted success as the coach of Chepauk Super Gillies that lifted the second edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League last month. He was thrilled after the finals and had said “This year, the seniors won us the finals. We needed 50 runs in four overs and R Satheesh (36) and Vasanth Saravanan (38) won it in three overs. When a young player is batting at one end, it’s always good for him to have an experienced older player at the other end; it helps him snap out of his nervousness,”.

IPL stars rewarded

Tripathi became a household name after playing some outstanding innings during the IPL earlier this year. While Rana sparkled for Mumbai Indians. Youngster Washinton was promising while playing for Rising Super Giants. He followed it up with a good outing in TNPL.

The other notable names in the squad are Mayank Agarwal, Shreevats Goswami, Gurkeerat Mann, ambidextrous spinner Akshay Karnewar, Govind Poddar, TN left-arm spinner Rahil Shah, pacers Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan and Kulwant Khejroliya. Some of these cricketers have played in the Deodhar Trophy earlier this year. Rahil and Washington played important roles in helping Tamil Nadu lift the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Deodhar Trophy this year.

Format: One Day game.

Captain: To Be Decided

The squad:

Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Shivam Chaudhary, Nitish Rana, Govind Poddar, Gurkeerat Mann, Shreevats Goswami, Akshay Karnewar, Kulwan Khejroliya, Krushang Patel, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Washington Sundar, Rahil Shah.

Coach: Hemang Badani