Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer To Lead Strong India A Squads Against South Africa A, Vijay Shankar Returns

The national selection panel has named India A squad for the first three one-day matches of the series against South Africa A. Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer will be leading a strong squad that includes international stars Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed.

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Gill, who has played two ODIs in New Zealand, was close to national selection but missed out on a place for the series against West Indies. Chahal and Chahar were part of the West Indies series for ODIs and T20Is, respectively. Since they are not a part of the Test side, the duo was named to play for India A.

Shankar and Thakur are making their comebacks from respective injuries. Shankar was part of India’s World Cup squad but was ruled out of the tournament mid-way due to a toe injury.

Thakur, on the other hand, had undergone a foot surgery after IPL 2019. India A games will be a chance for them to prove their fitness and make a comeback to the national side.

The series will serve as an opportunity for youngsters Anmolpreet Singh and Ruturaj Gaikwad to play well and come close to national selection. Both were a part of India A squad for the series against West Indies A. Ishan Kishan will be keeping the wickets in the first three matches.

Axar Patel hasn’t played international cricket for a long time now but was one of the players on the standby list for World Cup 2019. He will also have an opportunity to make a case for return in the national squad.

The five matches one-day series will be played in Thiruvananthapuram. The first three one-days will be played on August 29, 31 and September 2, respectively. All the five matches of the series will also have a live telecast.

Shreyas Iyer to lead India A in last two one-days –

India middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer will take over the captaincy from Pandey for last two one-days. Prashant Chopra, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Tushar Deshpande and Ishan Porel are named for the last two games.

Sanju Samson will be doing the wicketkeeping duties in the final two matches.

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South Africa had already announced their squad for the ‘A’ series. Temba Bavuma will be leading the visitors in one-day series. Their squad includes Junior Dala, Theunis de Bruyn, Reeza Hendricks, Anrich Nortje, Heinrich Klaasen to name a few.

India A squad for first three one-days: Manish Pandey (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Anmolpreet Singh, Ricky Bhui, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Krunal Pandya, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Nitish Rana.

India A squad for 4th and 5th one-day: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Shubman Gill, Prashant Chopra, Anmolpreet Singh, Ricky Bhui, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Nitish Rana, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Rahul Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Ishan Porel