Gujarat’s Priyank Panchal was named captain as the All-India Senior Selection Committee picked the India A squad for the South Africa tour scheduled to start from 23 November in Bloemfontein.
The 31-year-old Panchal is currently leading the Gujarat team in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy T20. Gujarat have qualified for the quarterfinals as toppers of Group D.
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The team will play three four-day matches during the tour. The Indian senior team is set to tour South Africa for their next overseas assignment.
Jammu and Kashmir pacer Umran Malik was also picked. The 21-year-old, a right-arm pacer, has played just one List A and eight T20 matches so far in his career. He has not played any red-ball game.
Malik caught attention with his raw pace during IPL 2021 in UAE. He had clocked 152.95 kph – the fastest delivery of the tournament – during Sunrisers Hyderabad’s game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. On his T20 debut, he picked up 3/24 against Railways which included the wicket of former India player Karn Sharma, who was beaten for sheer pace. He has taken six wickets in four games in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 championships though J&K finished last in Group C.
Other members of the squad include batters Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Devdutt Padikkal and bowlers Navdeep Saini and Rahul Chahar.
India A squad for South Africa tour: Priyank Panchal (c), Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Baba Aparajith, Upendra Yadav (wk), K Gowtham, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Umran Malik, Ishan Porel, Arzan Nagwaswalla.
India A tour of South Africa
| Day | Date | Match | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue-Fri | 23rd to 26th Nov 2021 | 1st Four-day Match | Bloemfontein |
| Mon-Thu | 29th Nov to 2nd Dec 2021 | 2nd Four-day Match | Bloemfontein |
| Mon-Thu | 6th to 9th Dec 2021 | 3rd Four-day Match | Bloemfontein |
Update: On the day India’s Test squad for the two matches against New Zealand at home were named, Hanuma Vihari was added to India A squad touring South Africa. Vihari, who has played only Test at home, last played in the longest format for India in the Sydney Test that he heroically saved with Ashwin Ravichandran.
Inputs from PTI
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