Wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik, youngster Shreyas Iyer and Test team vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane have been named as captains for India A, India B and India C sides that will take part in the Deodhar Trophy starting from 23rd October, 2018 in Delhi.
The BCCI named the squad for the three-team List A tournament which was won by India B last time around, when they defeated Karnataka in the final. The tournament remains a three-team affair but it will not feature Vijay Hazare Trophy champions this time.
Prithvi Shawn, Krunal Pandya and R Ashwin also feature in the India A squad that appears to be the strongest team on paper. Mayank Agarwal and Deepak Chahar would hope to impress for India B while Rahane will hope to catch the eyes not just as the captain but send a reminder to the selectors of his batting qualities when he leads India C.
With the squad named for only the first two ODIs against West Indies, performances in the Deodhar Trophy, as well as the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy could be key for some of the India hopefuls.
“It was decided during the technical committee meeting of BCCI that there will be three teams instead of one being Vijay Hazare champions,” GM (Game Development) Saba Karim told PTI on Thursday.
India A captain Karthik too will have a point to prove after being dropped from the national team for the first two ODIs against the West Indies. The wicket-keeper batsman will lead a team comprising Tamil Nadu teammate Ashwin, Mohammad Siraj, Karun Nair, Krunal Pandya and Siddharth Kaul.
The selectors have rewarded players who have done well in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy including Jharkhand pacer Varun Aaron, who is on a comeback trail.
Aaron will be playing for Iyer-led India B, which also has Mayank Agarwal, Shahbaz Nadeem, Hanuma Vihari and Jaydev Unadkat.
Rahane’s India C have the likes of U-19 star Shubman Gill, Delhi pacer Navdeep Saini, Jharkhand captain Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar and Rajneesh Gurbani.
None of the players representing nine new teams in domestic cricket have been picked.
Squads for the tournament:-
India A: Dinesh Karthik (C & WK), Prithvi Shaw, Anmolpreet Singh, A R Easwaran, Ankit Bawne, Nitish Rana, Karun Nair, Krunal Pandya, R Ashwin, Shreyas Gopal, S Mulani, Mohammed Siraj, Dhawal Kulkarni, Siddarth Kaul
India B: Shreyas Iyer (C), Mayank Agarwal, Rituraj Gaekwad, PS Chopra, Hanuma Vihari, Manoj Tiwary, Ankush Bains (WK), Rohit Rayudu, K Gowtham, Mayank Markande, S Nadeem, Deepak Chahar, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat
India C: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Abhinav Mukund, Shubman Gill, R Samarth, Suresh Raina, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Vijay Shankar, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Pappu Roy, Navdeep Saini, R Gurbani, Umar Nazir
With PTI inputs