Naman Ojha-led India A to tour Australia in August
New Delhi: Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha was on Saturday named captain of the India A team, which will take part in the two unofficial 'Tests' and a four-nation one-day tournament, in Australia, starting August 14.
Ojha had a memorable Australia tour with India A team in 2014 when he had struck a double hundred and a hundred in a four-day match.
India 'A' will tour Australia for quadrangular one-day series and two four-day games (August 13- September 18) #IndiaA
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 25, 2016
Most of the players, who were in the Indian squad during the recent Zimbabwe tour, have been included in the 16-man squad. As many as nine players from the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led squad are part of the 'A' team.
Ranji Trophy's highest run scorer Shreyas Iyer, who was ignored for the West Indies tour, is also part of the squad along with Kedar Jadhav, Axar Patel, Barinder Sran and Dhawal Kulkarni. Pacer Varun Aaron also finds a spot after being overlooked for India's tour of the West Indies.
Ind A (Correction): Naman (C),Fazal, Akhil, Shreyas, Karun, Manish, Kedar, Shankar, Axar, Jayant, Aaron, Dhawal, Unadkat,Sran, Nadeem,Samson
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 25, 2016
It will be first overseas outing for Mumbai southpaw Akhil Herwadkar with the India A team. The tour will begin with a match against Australia A in the four-team one-day event opener on August 14. The other two teams are South Africa A and National Performance Squad.
The two Test matches against Australia A are scheduled for September 8 to 11 and September 15 to 18 in Brisbane.
India A squad: Naman Ojha (C), Faiz Fazal, Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Barinder Sran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Varun Aaron and Sanju Samson.