Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha To Share Captaincy For India A Against South Africa A

Young Shubman Gill and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha will share the captaincy duties for India A during the forthcoming unofficial Test series against South Africa A. The series will get underway on September 9.

Gill, who has become a regular feature in India A side, is currently plying his trade for the side in the ongoing one-day series against South Africa A being held in Thiruvananthapuram. On the other hand, Saha is in West Indies for the two-match Test series. Saha has warmed the bench in both the games and will return home this week.

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The selection committee on Sunday met at National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru to pick the India A squad. The first four-day match will be held in Thiruvananthapuram from September 9 while the second match will take place in Mysore from September 17. While Gill will captain the team in the first game, Saha will take the responsibility in the second.

“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,” said chief selector MSK Prasad in a statement on Sunday.

“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,” he added.

All-round Vijay Shankar, who was ruled out of the one-day series against South Africa due to a thumb injury, has been named in the squad for the four-day matches. Shankar had also suffered an injury during the World Cup. He had returned to action during the Tamil Nadu Premier League before getting injured again.

Gill, nonetheless, will be looking to make another mark. In India A’s last unofficial Test series which was against West Indies A, he had scored a double century. Another good performance will further strengthen his case of making it to the senior team.

India A Squads:

For 1st match:

Shubman Gill (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Anmolpreet Singh, Ricky Bhui, Ankeet Bawne, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), K Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Vijay Shankar.

For 2nd match:

Priyank Panchal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Anmolpreet Singh, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha (captain and wicket-keeper), K Gowtham, Kuldeep Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan.