The India 'A' squad will travel to Australia to take part in the quadrangular cricket series as well as a Test Series against Australia A. Naman Ojha will lead the sides which has seen as many as 10 changes from the previous India-A squad.
Rahul Dravid is the coach of the team and this tour can be a great opportunity for all the fringe players to make a name for themselves. Also, good performances here will allow them to put their names in front of the national selectors.
India will kickstart their season with the tour to the West Indies which begins on June 22. This will be followed by a long 13-Test Match home series, and hence the A team players would want to put in good performances so that they can merit selection into the main team.
We take a look at 5 players from the squad who can be roped into the team if they put in consistent performances in Australia.
#1 Faiz Fazal
The Vidharbha batsman raised many eyebrows with his surprise selection into the limited overs squad to Zimbabwe. But this selection at the back of a consistent run in the 2015-16 season.
His innings of 127 in the fourth innings against Mumbai in the finals of the Irani Cup was the main reason why he was handed the Indian cap. In his debut innings against Zimbabwe, he looked like a man who knows his game and slowly displayed the wide array of strokes. He was content to play out the good balls but dispatched the slightly off-line deliveries to the fence. Against spin, he was assured and did not hesitate to step out to the spinners.
The innings of 55 was an assured one and he displayed that he had the game to excel at the highest format. This tour of Australia thus has come at the right time for him, and if he continues to thrive a national call-up for the longest format might still be achieved!
#2 Manish Pandey
There is little doubt that Manish Pandey has talent, and he has given enough evidence of it in limited overs format. He is definitely someone who is now part of the plans for the Indian National team in white ball cricket. However, the longer version is where he has to prove his worth.
He does have the game to be successful as the average of 50.37 in first class cricket showcases. Will he be able to make the jump to a much higher level, well this tour to Australia will have the answers. Pandey is an attacking batsman, one who can take the game away from the opposition through his stroke play, thus he can be suited to the number 6 position in Test Matches, a slot which is still up for grabs. Hence, this A tour can be a golden opportunity for him to stake his claim for the main team.
#3 Sanju Samson
During his stint with the Rajasthan Royals, Sanju Samson did force people to sit up and take notice of his ability. He has spoken of the influence of Rahul Dravid on his game.
He now gets a chance to play under Dravid again for the India-A team, and the Kerala boy should look to lap it up. An attacking wicket-keeper batsman, Samson can fill the void left by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the Test team.
Wriddhiman Saha has not yet nailed the position, and thus Samson should view this as an opportunity for the taking. He is young and extremely pleasing in his stroke-play. He just has to curd the natural instincts and play for the longer haul. Another possible candidate for the National Team.
#4 Dhawal Kulkarni
Dhawal Kulkarni was earmarked for national selection way back in 2010 when India toured New Zealand. Yuvraj Singh has always heaped praises on the seam bowler from Mumbai, but for some reason, Kulkarni lost his way.
He did find some form during the IPL, and this gave him another shot with the Indian team which toured Zimbabwe. The Mumbaikar was decent in the matches he played and thus he should believe that the tour to Australia is a make or break one for him.
The Kookaburra ball swings and Kulkarni relies on swing and shape to trouble the batsmen. He will be the leader of the bowling attack and should ideally relish the opportunity and make a strong statement to the selectors back home with his performances.
#5 Barinder Sran
Sran has made real headways in his career in the recent past. He was picked up for India's tour to Australia last year but did not make a positive impression. However, in the IPL he was quite good with the ball and made the ball talk.
This gave him another bite at the apple, as he was part of the 'second-string' side to Zimbabwe. He was one of the standout performers for India. He was the man of the series in the Twenty20 series. With his swinging ball, he troubled all the batsmen, and this is where his chance to play for the National team gains significant boost.
He swings the ball late and with the left-arm angle brings in a lot of variety to the bowling attack. India's Test team does not have a left-arm pace bowler and Sran can be that bowler if he does well in the tour down under.
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