KS Bharat, a wicketkeeper-batsman, will captain India A against South Africa A over the course of two four-day matches. The two matches will be conducted concurrently with the tour of the India senior men’s team.
In anticipation of the Boxing Day Test in Centurion, the initial four-day Test features the participation of Sarfaraz Khan, a Mumbai-based batsman who has been prolific on the domestic circuit but has yet to earn a spot in the squad.
Bharat’s final appearance for India was in the World Test Championship. Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul have been designated as the two wicketkeepers for the Test match against South Africa.
Apart from captain Bharat, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Dhruv Jurel, Manav Suthar, and Vidhwath Kaverappa are the sole players who were named for both of the four-day contests.
According to the BCCI, Easwaran will be available contingent on his fitness.
The squad for the initial A match comprises, among others, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, and Tushar Deshpande. In the lead-up to the New Year’s Test in Cape Town, the second A encounter will provide opportunities for Navdeep Saini, Tilak Varma, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel.
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.
A three-day intersquad match will also be played by India, in which 26 athletes have been selected.
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.
