India A vs South Africa A 2019: BCCI announces the hosts' squad for unofficial Test series

What's the story?

The selection committee announced the India A squad which will lock horns with South Africa A in two four-day matches. Shubman Gill will lead the side in the first unofficial Test match while Wriddhiman Saha will be the captain for the second game. The reason behind naming two different squads was that the series would be clashing with the final of the Duleep Trophy 2019.

In case you didn't know...

South Africa A is touring India to play a 5-match unofficial ODI series and a 2-match unofficial Test series with the tour spanning nearly a month. Both the sides are currently battling it out in the ODI format where India A have taken an unassailable 3-0 lead courtesy their victory in the 3rd game on Monday. The series will end on the 6th of September whereas the Test series will commence from the 10th of September.

The heart of the matter

The BCCI announced the squads for the two-match unofficial Test series which saw several domestic performers being rewarded. The selection committee named two different squads, keeping in mind the clash with the Duleep Trophy final.

India A squad for 2nd match: Priyank Panchal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Anmolpreet Singh, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha (Captain & wicket-keeper), K Gowtham, Kuldeep Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 1, 2019

The squads for the respective unofficial Test matches are as follows -

India A squad for the 1st Match - Shubman Gill (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Anmolpreet Singh, Ricky Bhui, Ankeet Bawne, KS Bharat (wk), K Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Vijay Shankar

India A squad for 2nd match: Priyank Panchal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Anmolpreet Singh, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha (capt, wk), K Gowtham, Kuldeep Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan.

Clarifying the selection for the two matches, BCCI released a statement which goes as follows -

"The Committee has picked two different teams for two games considering the ongoing Duleep Trophy and those members who are likely to feature in the final to be played between India Red and India Green have therefore been picked in the squad for second India A match. Accordingly, Rahul Chahar will be replaced by Mayank Markande in the India Green team and Ishan Kishan will return to the India Red team for Duleep Trophy final."

What's next?

The first unofficial Test match will be hosted by Thiruvananthapuram and Mysore will host the 2nd match. It will be intriguing to see how the Indian players perform in this series because good performances could help them catch the eye of the selectors.

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