Wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat will lead India A in the two four-day matches against South Africa A. The two fixtures will be played while the India senior men’s team will also be on tour.
The first four-day Test, which will be played in the lead-up to the Boxing Day Test in Centurion, sees the inclusion of Sarfaraz Khan, the Mumbai batter who’s enjoyed a prolific run in the domestic circuit but hasn’t been able to make the cut yet.
Bharat last played for India in the World Test Championship final. KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan have been named the two designated wicketkeepers in the Test squad against South Africa.
Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Dhruv Jurel, Manav Suthar and Vidhwath Kaverappa are the only other players besides captain Bharat to have been included in both the four-day games.
Easwaran, the BCCI said, will be available subject to fitness.
The squad for the first A game sees the inclusion of Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna and Tushar Deshpande among others. The second A game, which will be played in the lead-up to the New Year’s Test in Cape Town, will come with opportunities for Tilak Varma, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Navdeep Saini.
India A squad for the 1st four-day match: Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Devdutt Padikkal, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Sarfaraz Khan, KS Bharat (C)(wk), Dhruv Jurel, Shardul Thakur, Pulkit Narang, Sourabh Kumar, Manav Suthar, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Tushar Deshpande.
India A squad for 2nd four-day match: Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, KS Bharat (C)(wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Navdeep Saini.
India will also play a three-day inter-squad game, for which 26 players have been named.
India Inter-squad three-day match: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pulkit Narang, Harshit Rana, Shardul Thakur, Sourabh Kumar, Manav Suthar, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini.
