India A will be seen playing against the visitors of New Zealand A in the upcoming month of September. This month-long tour will be starting on September 1 and will continue till September 27. The tour will comprise three 4-day matches and three 1-day matches. BCCI made an official announcement on their website declaring the squad for the 4-day matches.
Priyank Panchal has been named captain for the series after he led the side in South Africa. Tilak Varma, who has played just four first-class matches, was impressive for India in the last Under-19 World Cup and was in great touch in his maiden IPL campaign this year for Mumbai Indians. Kuldeep on the other hand has been in and out of the India side and the series will present him an opportunity to continue his strong comeback post his injury troubles.
Priyank Panchal To Lead India A vs New Zealand A
The selectors have also picked Prasidh Krishna in the squad even though he has been featuring in the white-ball squads off late for the senior side. Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar, the top two run-getters of the 2021-22 Ranji campaign have made it to the squad. While the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal went to South Africa, the selectors opted for Ruturaj Gaikwad this time.
In the bowling department, apart from Prasidh and Kuldeep, Umran Malik and Arzan Nagwaswalla retain their spots whereas Yash Dayal and Mukesh Kumar have managed to get in ahead of Ishan Porel and Navdeep Saini. Umran Malik is an interesting selection in the squad, as he is currently the most lethal fast bowler around the world who managed to touch the 157 kmph mark against the Delhi Capitals in IPL this year.
BCCI is still yet to declare the squad for the 1-day matches. The official announcement on the BCCI website reads ‘The red-ball matches will be held in Bengaluru and Hubli. Squads for the white-ball games to be played in Chennai will be announced later.’
Read Official Tweet By BCCI:
NEWS – India A squad for four-day matches against New Zealand A announced.@PKpanchal9 to lead the team for the same.
Full squad details here 👇https://t.co/myxdzItG9o
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 24, 2022
India A Squad vs New Zealand A: Priyank Panchal (Captain), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Varma, KS Bharat (wk), Upendra Yadav (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal, Arzan Nagwaswalla.