South Africa A to play India A in the tri-series opener at Groenkloof

Hosts South Africa A will take on India A on July 26 in the first game of the tri-series. Initially, Afghanistan A were scheduled to play against India A but the fixtures have been tweaked a little in order to allow Afghanistan more time to get acclimatized to the conditions of South Africa. They will play their first game of the series against India A on July 28 at the Tuks Oval.

Afghanistan A replaced Australia A

Afghanistan A were roped in to replace Australia A, who were initially the third participant team for this tri-series. But due to the ongoing pay scuffle between the CA and the ACA, Australia later pulled out from the tour as they players decided to boycott the tour after their contracts were not renewed. After Australia’s boycott, the tour of India A came under jeopardy as they did not want to travel to South Africa to play just two four day games, which are scheduled to take place after the ODI tri-series.

Initially, the boards were in talks to conduct a 5-match bilateral ODI series instead of the tri-series before Afghanistan A was pulled in as the third team. All teams will play each other twice and the top two teams will lock horns in the finals on August 8 at the Tuks Oval in Pretoria. All 7 games will take place in Pretoria.

India A a strong unit

India A will be led by Manish Pandey, who would want to stake a claim in the Indian middle order through powerful performances in this tournament. The Indian squad consists of talented players like Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel and Krunal Pandya.

South Africa A and Afghanistan A will be led by Khaya Zondo and Shafiqullah Shafiq respectively. It will be a tough series as all sides are a skilled unit. India and Afghanistan will have to quickly adapt to the conditions in order to make a mark in the series.

Revised schedule (all matches in Pretoria)