The BCCI has announced a 15-member India A squad for the tour of Australia, which will begin on October 31. The selection committee has chosen Ruturaj Gaikwad as the captain of the India A team, while opener Abhimanyu Easwaran will act as his deputy.

Ishan Kishan returned to the Indian team set-up after impressive outings in the recent domestic matches. He was amongst the two wicketkeeper batters, alongside Abishek Porel, to be picked from the team.

Kishan was dropped from the Indian team after he didn't prioritise the domestic cricket after BCCI directed him to play Ranji Trophy matches last season. The batter had reportedly taken a personal break which did not go down well with the BCCI. Later he was also excluded from the BCCI annual contracted players' list alongside Shreyas Iyer.

India A will play two first-class matches against Australia A in Mackay and Melbourne, respectively, and then take part in a three-day intra-squad game against the senior Indian team in Perth. The intra-squad game will be part of Team India's preparatory camp for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25.

With the reports of Rohit Sharma expected to miss the first two Tests against Australia, the first two matches of the India A tour will provide an opportunity for youngsters to prove their mettle and get into the Indian team. The selectors will keep close eyes on the likes of Gaikwad and Easwaran in the India A matches against Australia A.

Easwaran 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.

Meanwhile, Gaikwad also slammed a second innings century against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy match to make a statement ahead of the Australia tour. However, his 145-run knock went in vain as Mumbai won the match by 9 wickets.

Devdutt Padikkal, Baba Indrajith, and Ricky Bhui will form a formidable middle-order batting in the India A squad.

Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar Reddy, who recently made a sensational start to his T20I career, picked in the India A team for the fast-bowling all-rounder role.

India A squad for the tour of Australia: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Abhimanyu Easwaran (VC), Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Baba Indrajith, Ishan Kishan (WK), Abishek Porel (WK), Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal, Navdeep Saini, Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian

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