Will IPL Playoffs-Bound Players Feature In India A Tour Of England?

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has more or less finalised the squad for the India A tour of England, starting on May 30, and is likely to make the announcement on May 13 (Tuesday), reported Cricbuzz.

India A are scheduled to play two four-day games against England Lions (May 30-June 2 and June 6-9) and one against the senior Indian squad (June 13-16). The five-match series between India and England will then get underway from June 20.

Now that the IPL final date has been pushed back to May 30, the BCCI has asked the selectors to pick non-IPL players or the ones from the franchises who are out of the race for the IPL 2025 playoffs for the first game. The other players could join the set-up for the last two matches.

Abhimanyu Easwaran is most likely to be India A’s captain, while the likes of Karun Nair, Tanush Kotian, Baba Indrajith, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel and Nitish Kumar Reddy will also feature in the ‘A’ series. The latter two will then join the senior squad, and so will Shardul Thakur. 

There’s no update on whether Ishan Kishan will be picked or not, but in-form Shreyas Iyer could be in the mix if Virat Kohli decides to announce his retirement before the England tour. 

Mukesh Kumar will also be in the mix, and so will Yash Dayal ahead of someone like Khaleel Ahmed.