Jaiswal, Rahul among 11 Test stars selected for India A Tests sqaud vs NZ

Senior team vice-captain KL Rahul, his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal, one down batter Devdutt Padikkal are among 11 Test players picked in the 15-member India A squad that will play three unofficial Tests against New Zealand A starting October 24. However, the short BCCI press release didn't clarify how many of the three 'Tests' would the likes of Rahul, Jaiswal, Washington Sundar, who are also part of the Indian ODI set-up, play in New Zealand. The first 'Test' will be played from October 24 to 28 in Lincoln followed by the second game in Christchurch starting October 31-November 3. The last 'Test', again in Lincoln, will be held from November 7-10. Now the first three ODI matches against New Zealand will be held on November 4, 7 and 10. So it is nearly impossible for Rahul, Washington and Jaiswal to be available for all the 'A' Tests. The squad also features Rishabh Pant, whose participation is subject to fitness, along with his Test understudy Dhruv Jurel, reserve opener Sai Sudharsan, left-arm spinner Manav Suthar who are expected to be a part of the senior side during the two, Tests which are part of the World Test Championship. Also Read Apart from these eight, there are three more capped Test players in pacers Anshul Kamboj, Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar. Akash is set to be a part of Test team and the 'A' Test will give him miles in his legs while Mukesh Kumar comes back into national reckoning after a fiery spell in the Irani Cup final. If one considers international cap, then the number swells to 12 with the presence of Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi. The only three uncapped players in the side are prolific domestic run machine Smaran Ravichandran, Vidarbha batter Yash Rathod and left-arm seamer Mukesh Choudhary. India A squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Smaran, Rishabh Pant* [WK], Dhruv Jurel [C] [WK], Washington Sundar, Auqib Nabi, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Manav Suthar, Mukesh Choudhary, Sai Sudarsan, Yash Rathod, Mukesh Kumar. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)