Gaikwad likely to captain India A, Ishan Kishan expected to return to national team on Australia tour

Ruturaj Gaikwad is likely to lead the India A side against Australia A in the two four-day first-class games, beginning later this month, according to ESPNcricinfo. All eyes will be on the India A top-order batters, which is expected to feature Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan with Gaikwad. India will hunt for a reserve opener after reports revealed that captain Rohit Sharma is expected to miss one of the first two Test matches of the highly anticipated Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, slated to begin next month.

Easwaran will be one of the talking points during the two matches. He has enjoyed a purple patch on the back of his splendid form. He smashed two hundreds in the Duleep Trophy and followed it up with another ton in the Irani Cup. Centuries continued to pelt down from his bat as he struck a double-hundred in Tamil Nadu's ongoing Ranji Trophy match in Delhi. The two first-class games against Australia A could be considered an audition for players to prove their mettle and break into the India squad for five Tests.

Devdutt Padikkal, Baba Indrajith, and Ricky Bhui are likely to form a formidable middle-order batting in the India A squad. Ishan Kishan could return to the international setup for the first time after losing out on a central contract. The young southpaw was dropped from the list with Shreyas Iyer after concerns emerged that he prioritised the Indian Premier League over domestic cricket. He is likely to provide wicketkeeping options to the India A side with Abishek Porel.

Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian and Manav Suthar are expected to feature as all-rounders. The pace bowling unit is expected to see Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed and Yash Dayal. The first match of the four-day game will begin in Mackay on October 31. The second match will be played in Melbourne from November 7. 

India A squad for tour of Australia according to ESPNcricinfo: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan, B Indrajith, Abishek Porel (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Mukesh Kumar, Ricky Bhui, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Manav Suthar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Tanush Kotian, Yash Dayal. (ANI)