India A squad for unofficial Test vs Australia A: Ruturaj Gaikwad to lead, Ishan Kishan in contention - Report

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India A squad for unofficial Test vs Australia A: With the India A tour of Australia approaching, the BCCI is likely to announce the squad on Saturday (October 19) or in the next couple of days. The first four-day unofficial Test is set to kick off in Mackay from October 31.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, who recently led Rest of India in Irani Cup 2024, looks all set to be named as the captain of India A squad for the red-ball tour of Australia. The Maharashtra batter is in contention for a place as backup opener in India's squad for the five-Test series in Australia which will start from November 22 in Perth.

As per a report by ESPNcricinfo, Sai Sudharshan and Abhimanyu Easwaran will be other two openers in India A squad for Australia tour. Sudharshan smashed a double hundred in Tamil Nadu's Ranji Trophy match against Delhi.

Bengal star Abhimanyu Easwaran scored two hundreds in the Duleep Trophy 2024 while leading India B, then in the Irani Cup and followed it with another hundred against UP in his first outing of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season.

India captain Rohit Sharma is set to miss one of the two Test matches of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy due to personal reasons, and the selectors are in search of a handy and reliable opener.

Further, Jharkhand captain Ishan Kishan, who last played for India in November 2023 before losing his central contract, is also very likely to find a place alongside Bengal wicketkeeper-batter Abishek Porel.

Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian and Manav Suthar could be the three all-rounders, and Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed and Yash Dayal are the four fast bowlers set to be on the flight to Australia.

An impressive run in the series will surely open doors for players to get a place in the senior Indian men's Test team which will land in Australia next month.

The second four-day match between India A and Australia A will be played in Melbourne from November 7.

India A squad for tour of Australia as per ESPNcricinfo: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan, B Indrajith, Abishek Porel (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Mukesh Kumar, Ricky Bhui, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Manav Suthar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Tanush Kotian, Yash Dayal.