India’s emerging First Class talent will strive to burnish its credentials even further as India-A hosts Australia-A in the first unofficial Test match at the Siachem Cricket Stadium here, starting on Tuesday.
Devdutt Padikkal lived up to his billing with two hundreds in Sri Lanka last month and will lead the side, hoping to add to his growing reputation. B. Sai Sudharsan, who is returning after a foot injury, and Anshul Kamboj are the only other capped players in the squad.
The selectors have rewarded young batters Aman Mokhade, Ayush Pandey, Kumar Kushagra, and Shaik Rasheed for their domestic hauls. But India-A’s only spin options, Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian, are also all-rounders, and will probably squeeze out one outright batter at the top.
In the three First Class games at this venue last season, spinners picked 52 wickets at 23.32 while the quicks were limited to just 16 wickets at an average of more than 36.
It is precisely why Australia-A has included Todd Murphy and Corey Rocchiccioli in its starting XI for the game.
The visitor also boasts of an experienced batting line-up in Peter Handscomb, Nathan McSweeney, Josh Philippe, and Sam Konstas, and most will take this series as an audition for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India early next year.
Teams (from): India-A: Devdutt Padikkal (Capt.), Sai Sudharsan (Vice-capt.), Aman Mokhade, Ayush Pandey, Yash Rathod, Shaik Rasheed, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Anshul Kamboj, Praful Hinge, N. Jagadeesan (wk), Nachiket Bhute, and V. Vyshak.
Australia-A: Brendan Doggett, Jack Edwards, Peter Handscomb (Capt.), Sam Harper (wk), Liam Hatcher, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Josh Philippe (wk), Jhye Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Jason Sangha, and Liam Scott.
Published – September 21, 2026 09:03 pm IST
