BCCI Announce 14-Member Squad For Warm-Up Game Against Australia

Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi have been included in the 14-man squad announced by the  Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Thursday (September 7) for the Board President’s XI, which will take on Australia in a warm-up match before the visitors play against India in the limited-overs series. The practise game will be played at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium on September 12.

The likes of Rana, Tripathi, Gurkeerat Mann and others have been rewarded for their impressive performancs in last season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. Tripathi and Rana were also two of the most impressive performers in this year’s Indian Premier League. After warming the bench for the first few games,  Tripathi made a mark straightaway after being included in the playing eleven and played an integral role in Rising Pune Supergiant’s march to the final, scoring 391 runs in 14 games while Rana played one game less than Tripathi and scored an impressive 333 runs. With majority of the big names of the domestic circuit currently busy with Duleep Trophy, the likes of Washington Sundar and Sandeep Sharma have also made it to the squad.

Meanwhile, Hemang Badani, the former India international who is currently plying his trade as coach of Chepauk Super Gillies in Tamil Nadu Premier League, will coach the team. The visitors will arrive in India in two batches on September 8 and 9 to play the five-match ODI series and three-match T20I series. The tour will start on September 17 in Chennai with the first ODI.

Board President XI squad:

Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Shivam Chaudhary, Nitish Rana, Govind Poddar, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Sreevats Goswami, Akshay Karnewar, Kulwan Kheroliya, Krushang Patel, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Washington Sundar, Rahil Shah