Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha to share India A captaincy in four-day games against South Africa A

Highly-rated batsman Shubman Gill and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha will share the captaincy duties for India A in the unofficial Test series against South Africa A, beginning on September 9.

Gill is currently part of One-day series against South Africa A being held in Thiruvananthapuram while Saha is warming the bench in India’s Test series in the West Indies.

The selection committee on Sunday met at National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru to pick the India A squad.

The first four-day match will be held in Thiruvananthapuram from September 9 while the second match will take place in Mysore from September 17. Gill has been named captain for the first game and Saha for the second.

“The Committee has picked two different teams for two games considering the ongoing Duleep Trophy and those members who are likely to feature in the final to be played between India Red and India Green have therefore been picked in the squad for second India A match,” BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad said in a statement on Sunday.

He added, “Accordingly, Rahul Chahar will be replaced by Mayank Markande in the India Green team and Ishan Kishan will return to the India Red team for Duleep Trophy final.”

All-rounder Vijay Shankar, who was ruled out of the one-day series against South Africa due to a thumb injury, has been named in the squad for the four-day matches.

Shankar was forced to leave the World Cup campaign midway after he sustained a toe injury due to a yorker bowled by Jasprit Bumrah. He recently made a comeback in the Tamil Nadu Premier League before getting injured again.

Squads

For 1st match: Shubman Gill (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Anmolpreet Singh, Ricky Bhui, Ankeet Bawne, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), K Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Vijay Shankar.

For 2nd match: Priyank Panchal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Anmolpreet Singh, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha (captain and wicketkeeper), Krishnappa Gowtham, Kuldeep Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan.