Tilak, Umran and Kuldeep named in India A squad

Tilak Varma, Umran Malik and Kuldeep Yadav have been named in the India A squad for the three four-day matches against New Zealand A starting next month. The 16-member squad will be led by Priyank Panchal, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced on Wednesday (August 24).  

The tearaway quick from Jammu and Kashmir, Umran has only featured in three first-class games but has already played three T20Is for India. The 22-year-old impressed everyone with his pace in the last edition of the Indian Premier League and since then has become the talk of the town.

Meanwhile, Tilak Verma too had an outstanding debut season with Mumbai Indians and it was only a matter of time before the young Hyderabad batter broke in the India A set-up. The left-hander has played just four first-class games for his state but averages 52.26 in 16 List A games. Apart from these two, the other players have been around for a while.

The likes of Panchal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, KS Bharat, Saurabh Kumar, Arzan Nagwaswalla, and a few others have all played for India A in the past. Ruturaj Gaikwad is someone else who has already played international cricket and so have Rahul Chahar and Prasidh Krishna.

Meanwhile, Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan have been two of the most prolific run-getters in red-ball cricket and were phenomenal in the last edition of the Ranji Trophy. Kuldeep, who played the last of his seven Tests in February 2021, is also part of the squad. The left-arm wristspinner recently featured in all three ODIs against Zimbabwe. 

The first match (September 1-4) will be played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, while the second encounter (September 8-11) will take place at KSCA Rajnagar Stadium, Hubli. The action will then shift back to the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium which will host the final four-day game (September 15-18) as well.

The two teams are then scheduled to play three 50-over encounters in Chennai between September 22 and 27.

India A squad for four-day matches: Priyank Panchal (c), 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.