Board President's XI against Australia: Young talents rewarded for good show in IPL 10

Mumbai, Sep 8: As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday (September 7) announced the Board President's XI squad for a warm-up game against Australia, names of young Washington Sundar and Rahul Tripathi came as pleasant surprise.

Both the youngsters are among several young cricketers who have been rewarded for their performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 and Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Both Sundar and Tripathi, who played for Steve Smith-led Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL 10, were amongst the emerging players of the tournament.

Chief selector MSK Prasad-led committee selected a 14-member squad comprising Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Washington Sundar and Kulwant Khejroliya got recognition during the IPL 10 and now they have a chance to get some more international exposure.

"I'm glad to have got this opportunity. I have played a lot with Smith in the IPL with Pune. Now, I'm looking forward to playing against him. I'm also happy that people are looking at the performances from the Vijay Hazare and Deodhar Trophy," Washington was quoted by Cricbuzz as saying, on the sidelines of a Tamil Nadu Premier League event.

The warm-up tie will be played at Chennai on September 12 before Steve Smith-led side locks horns with Virat Kohli and company.

The first one-day international between the two teams will be played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Chennai on September 17.

Delhi left-arm quick Khejroliya, who was part of the Mumbai Indians squad, is being considered an exciting prospect with his ability to hit mid-140s.

The Indian team management is looking for some left-arm fast bowling options and the move to give Khejroliya a game against an international side may just be an opportunity to test his talent.

He has played only seven List A games for Delhi last season, taking 17 wickets.

Some like Odisha's Govinda Poddar and UP's Shivam Chaudhary have also been picked based on some decent Vijay Hazare Trophy performances despite not even scoring 500 runs in the first-class season.

Bengal's Shreevats Goswami was picked as the top three scorers for Bengal -- Manoj Tiwary, Sudeep Chatterjee, and Abhimanyu Easwaran -- are playing in the Duleep Trophy. Shreevats has scored 492 runs last season with his maiden double hundred.

A BCCI official admitted that sudden plans to reinstate Duleep Trophy threw selectors' plans haywire.

"The Duleep Trophy certainly sent the selectors' plans haywire. With Duleep on, this was the best set of domestic players available. People like Rahul and Washington have done well in the IPL while a few like Govinda and Shivam did decently in Vijay Hazare Trophy for their state sides," the BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

IPL specialist Mayank Agarwal did not do anything last season but has been picked due to lack of options. Agarwal has also been a big flop in the IPL as well as this year's ongoing Karnataka Premier League but found favour due to his past performances.

India discard Gurkeerat Mann, who failed to make the cut in Duleep teams, has also been named in the squad.

The fast bowlers have all been picked based on their talent more than their performances. There is Kulwant along with Madhya Pradesh's former India U-19 Avesh Khan and Gujarat's Kushang Patel. Punjab swing bowler Sandeep Sharma is also there in the squad.

There are two left-arm spinners in Tamil Nadu's Rahil Shah and Maharashtra's Akshay Karnewar.

Squad: Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Shivam Chaudhary, Nitish Rana, Govinda Poddar, Gurkeerat Mann, Shreevats Goswami, Akshay Karnewar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kushang Patel, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Washington Sundar, Rahil Shah.

Coach: Hemang Badani.