File photo of Ishan Kishan© AFP
Ishan Kishan, who was dropped from BCCI central contracts earlier this year due to concerns that he was 'prioritising' the cash-rich IPL over domestic cricket, will make his return to the India A team. Kishan, who was is leading Jharkhand on his return to domestic cricket this season, is set to feature in two four-day 'Tests' against Australia A, as well as an intra-squad match with the senior team. The two 'Tests' against Australia A will be held at McKay from October 31-November 3 and then at MCG from November 7-10.
While BCCI is yet to announce the squad, one among Ruturaj Gaikwad or Abhimanyu Easwaran is expected to lead the side.
Abhimanyu, who has scored four hundreds in his last four first-class matches, might be called as a back-up opener in senior team with skipper Rohit Sharma set to take a break during one of the first two Tests due to personal reasons.
Bengal will be represented in the India A squad by seamer Mukesh Kumar and keeper-batter Abhishek Porel.
Likely India A squad for tour of Australia: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan, B Indrajith, Abishek Porel (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Mukesh Kumar, Ricky Bhui, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Manav Suthar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Tanush Kotian, Yash Dayal.
India batter Ishan Kishan recently returned to the Jharkhand Ranji team as its captain, following his controversial pullout last season that led to his exclusion from the BCCI central contract.
The explosive left-hander, who became a regular in India's white-ball squad after Rishabh Pant's road accident in December 2022, took a break during India's tour of South Africa last year. Post break, he did not participate in any official BCCI matches, which raised a few eyebrows as the board stressed on players prioritising domestic cricket when not on national duty.