No Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli In India A Squad For 3 One-Day Matches Against South Africa A | Cricket News

No Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in India A squad for three-match series against South Africa A. (Picture Credit: AP)

Young left-handed batter Tilak Varma on Wednesday (November 5) has been appointed as the captain of the India A team for the upcoming three one-day matches against the South Africa A team. Tilak, who is playing for India these days in the T20I series against Australia, will lead the side in the absence of Shreyas Iyer.

The three one-day matches between India A and South Africa A will be played at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on November 13, 16 and 19, respectively.

Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad will be Tilak’s deputy, and the squad doesn’t feature the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Rohit and Kohli last played a 50-over match on October 25 against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground. In the fixture that India won by 9 wickets, Rohit remained unbeaten on 121 runs from 125 balls, and Kohli added 74 runs from 81 balls to India’s total.

India A’s squad for one-day team against South Africa A: Tilak Varma (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Manav Suthar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Prabhsimran Singh (WK)

Chance to stake claim

Apart from Tilak, Arshdeep Singh, Abhishek Sharma and Harshit Rana will also play for India A against South Africa A after returning from Australia.

The matches against South Africa A will be an opportunity for the likes of Abhishek, Tilak, Ruturaj, Parag and Ishan Kishan to make a comeback in India’s ODI team for the three-match series against South Africa later this month.

There is still no official clarity over Iyer’s availability for the home series against South Africa, and in his absence, India will need a No. 4 batter, and that’s where the likes of Tilak, Parag and Ishan can fit in.

Why no Jaiswal?

23-year-old left-handed batter Yashasvi Jaiswal was not picked for the three one-day matches against South Africa A due to his inclusion in India’s Test squad for the two-match series against South Africa. The first Test of the India-South Africa series will be played at Eden Gardens from November 14 to 18, and Jaiswal will play as opener in that fixture.