Abhimanyu Easwaran named captain for India A's tour of England

Abhimanyu Easwaran will lead India A on their upcoming tour of England. A media advisory by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released the 18-member squad as well as the schedule. The press release disclosed India A will play three games in total; two against England Lions and one being an intra-squad game against the senior Indian outfit.

Dhruv Jurel was announced as the deputy skipper. Player of the Tournament of the 2024-25 edition of the Ranji Trophy, Harsh Dubey, and Anshul Kamboj received maiden call-ups to the India A setup. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who stands ruled out of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League, found a place in the squad too. The pace-bowling department includes Harshit Rana, Akash Deep, Khaleel Ahmed, and Tushar Deshpande other than Shardul Thakur and Kamboj.

It was also noted that Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan would join the squad ahead of the second game. The two are representing Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League at the moment. GT require only one win in the remainder of their three group-stage games to get through to the playoffs.

The senior side's five-match Test series is slated to get underway on June 20. With the recent retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the longest format, it remains to be seen which players are shortlisted to replace the seasoned pros in their respective positions as far as the batting order is concerned.

India A's squad for tour of England

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, Harsh Dubey