Ruturaj Gaikwad's Test career being deliberately shut down; Abhimanyu Easwaran involved in the plot

The former Indian player Aakash Chopra raised some questions on the selection of the India A squad. The selectors selected 18 players for the India A squad for two first-class matches against England Lions before the five-match Test series against England.

Abhimanyu Easwaran has been appointed as the skipper for the India A squad, and Aakash Chopra has asked the selectors and management to appoint Abhimanyu Easwaran as the skipper. Will he become the automatic choice in the playing XI?

Read also: KL Rahul’s batting position changed yet again by Delhi Capitals for remainder of IPL 2025

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Aakash Chopra’s concern on selection of Abhimanyu Easwaran as skipper

Aakash Chopra shared a video on his YouTube channel and questioned why Easwaran handed the captaincy ahead of Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was the skipper for India A last time.

He also raised concerns about how Easwaran was appointed as the captain, and will it is possible that he will be in the squad of India’s squad against England.

"When such a team was made last time, Ruturaj Gaikwad was the captain. Now Ruturaj Gaikwad is not the captain. Why has that happened? I have got no idea. The big news is that Abhimanyu Easwaran has been made the captain. Is that an indication that you are going to keep him in the XI? I have no idea, but he has been made the captain," Aakash Chopra reacted after selection.

Abhimanyu Easwaran is scoring lots of runs in domestic cricket, and he earned the opportunity for himself. While Gaikwad suffered an injury in the IPL 2025 and he’ll be coming from an injury, how he will adapt to the English conditions will be

Aakash Chopra opens on Devdutt Padikkal’s absence

Devdutt Padikkal didn’t find a place for himself in the India A squad, and he will be out of the whole England tour.

"Devdutt Padikkal is not part of this squad. It means his hamstring tear is a serious one. RCB might have some problems because of that, but he will himself have more problems because of that, as he is out of the entire England tour. He is not going to be considered. How would his name come if his name is not there in this team?" Chopra stated.

Padikkal has played just two Test matches and scored 90 runs at an average of 30. He was also ruled out of the IPL 2025 due to a hamstring injury.

India A squad against England Lions

The big news that came after the squad announcement was that Karun Nair was returning to the Indian team after eight long years. Nair was scoring tons of runs in domestic cricket. In the 2024-25 domestic season, he scored 863 runs in nine matches.

Yashasvi Jaiswal will also travel with the India A squad alongside Nitish Kumar Reddy. Harsh Dubey, Anshul Kamboj, Tanush Kotian, and Khaleel Ahmed also got the opportunity to showcase their talent in English conditions.

India A squad:

Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (vc & 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.