Rinku Singh and Arshdeep Singh named in India A squad for Unofficial Tests vs England Lions, Saini dropped

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Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma and Arshdeep Singh will join the India A squad which will play the second and third Unofficial Test matches against England Lions. The Men’s Selection Committee named the three India stars in the squad on Friday, January 19.

The three players were part of the recently-concluded T20I series against Afghanistan. None of these three players have been named in the India squad for the first two Test matches against England.

Rinku Singh was not part of the Indian Test squad in South Africa, but travelled with the team for the two matches. His rapid rise in white-ball cricket has increased his chances of a Test call up soon.

Abhimanyu Easwaran will continue to lead the India A side. The second match will be played from January 24, while the third and final match will be played from February 1. All the matches are being played in Ahmedabad.

Pradosh Paul, Manav Suthar, Pulkit Narang and Navdeep Saini have been dropped from the squad. KS Bharat will be unavailable as he will join the senior team for England Tests.

In the ongoing first Unofficial Test, England declared their first innings at 553/8 before bundling out India A for 227 despite 151 runs from Rajat Patidar. Saini leaked 101 runs in 23 overs for one wicket. Pulkit Narang went wicketless after giving away 124 runs in 24 overs. Left-arm spinner Suthar registered figures of 4/137.

England Lions declared their second innings at 163/6 to set India a 490-run target. Saini, Tushar Deshpande, Suthar and Narang picked one wicket apiece. Off-spinner Paul picked two wickets in three overs.

India lost Easwaran for a duck in the second innings. He was dismissed by Matthew Potts who then dismissed Patidar to reduce India to 6/2. Sai Sudharsan (53*) and Sarfaraz Khan (57) then hit a fifties to resurrect India's innings. Paul also chipped in with 43 runs off just 37 balls. India A finished Day 3 at 159/4, still needing 331 runs to win.

India 'A’ squad for the 2nd multi-day match: Abhimanyu Easwaran (Captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Varma, Kumar Kushagra, Washington Sundar, Sourabh Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Vidwath Kaverappa, Upendra Yadav, Akash Deep, Yash Dayal

India 'A’ squad for the 3rd multi-day match: Abhimanyu Easwaran (Captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Kumar Kushagra, Washington Sundar, Shams Mulani, Arshdeep Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Vidwath Kaverappa, Upendra Yadav, Akash Deep, Yash Daya