3 players who were lucky to be picked in India A's squad for the England tour ft. Ishan Kishan

India have announced their squad for the 'A' tour of England, scheduled to start at the end of this month. Abhimanyu Easwaran will lead the contingent, which features a good blend of youth and experience.

India A will play three tour matches, including one against the senior side, ahead of the highly anticipated Test series, for which a squad is yet to be announced. Performances will be watched closely, with the visitors going through a tough period of transition in the red-ball format.

India A squad for the tour of England: Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (vice-captain & wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (wk), Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande and Harsh Dubey.

On that note, here are three players who were lucky to be picked in India A's squad for the tour of England.

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#3 Mukesh Kumar

India v England - 2nd Test Match: Day Two - Source: Getty

On paper, it's easy to see why the selectors have faith in Mukesh Kumar. An accurate bowler who can seam the ball both ways, he seems to have an ideal skillset to operate in English conditions.

However, the truth of the matter is that Mukesh has been underwhelming whenever he has played for the national side, even in friendly conditions away from home. With seven wickets in three Tests, the 31-year-old hasn't shown any signs of being an international quality bowler. His pace has been down, and his accuracy has let the team down at key junctures as well.

With India going through a transition, the time is ripe for them to bring in younger, more exciting pace talents. Sticking with Mukesh, even for an A tour, doesn't make much sense.

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#2 Ishan Kishan

India Portraits - ICC World Test Championship Final 2023 - Source: Getty

After last playing a Test nearly two years ago and missing out on the recent edition of the Ranji Trophy, Ishan Kishan wasn't expected to be in the thick of things in red-ball cricket. Strangely, he has been picked as the backup wicket-keeper for India A's tour of England.

Kishan has played just two Tests for India, and there are serious questions over not just his ability to score runs in red-ball cricket but also his commitment to the format. The left-hander has tons of holes in his technique which are being exploited even at the T20 level.

Other glovemen like Aryan Juyal and Akshay Wadkar enjoyed prolific Ranji campaigns and should've arguably been ahead of Kishan in the pecking order.

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#1 Tushar Deshpande

IPL 2023: Qualifier 1 - Gujarat Titans v Chennai Super Kings - Source: Getty

Tushar Deshpande's first-class record isn't overly impressive. In 36 matches, he averages a shade under 30 at an economy rate of 3.3. More importantly, the 30-year-old hasn't shown any signs of the swing and seam skillsets that pacers need to have in the longest format.

Deshpande, however, has been picked in the squad for the A tour of England. This is despite him missing the entirety of the domestic season with injury and not displaying much rhythm while playing for the Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League.

It's understandable that India wanted to have enough pace backups, but it's arguable that Deshpande didn't deserve to be anywhere near the squad.