Kolkata: India’s future breed of cricketers, which features the likes of Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar and Nitish Rana to name a few have been included in the Board Presidents XI side that would take on the Australian team at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on the 12th of September.
Australia would compete against India in a five-match ODI series and a three-match T20 series starting from September 17. They are expected to arrive in batches on September 8 and 9.
The youngsters who have been selected to be a part of the squad would undoubtedly have a good opportunity to make a mark for themselves which they did, earlier in this year’s IPL.
Rahul Tripathi, the right-handed opening batsman often took his team- Rising Pune Supergiants to a flying start with his explosive batting, while Nitish Rana did an equally good job for Mumbai Indians and was one of the mainstays at the top of the order during the initial stages of last year’s tournament.
Pune for the very first time in the IPL history made it to the final and Washington Sundar’s consistency with the ball is one reason for that.
He did a great job with the ball in the powerplay overs, sharing the new ball at times and troubling left-handers with his variations.
The 17-year Sundar also lit up the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) where he was highly successful in both his roles as an opener and as an off-spinner for Tuti Patriots. He along with Rahil Shah were instrumental in Tamil Nadu becoming the Deodhar Trophy and Vijay Hazare trophy earlier this year.
Other names like Shreevats Goswami, Mayank Agarwal, Gurkeerat Mann, Govind Poddar, left-arm spinner Rahil Shah, ambidextrous bowler Akshay Karnewar would be a part of the squad. Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan and Kulwant Khejroliya would take charge of the bowling unit.
Mann, Khejroliya, Karnewar, Poddar all were parts of their respective teams in the Deodhar Trophy earlier this year.
However the skipper of the side is yet to be picked with former Indian cricketer Hemang Badani as the coach. Badani led the Chepauk Super Gillies to the second TNPL title earlier this year.
Here is the squad-
Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Shivam Chaudhary, Nitish Rana, Govind Poddar, Gurkeerat Mann, Shreevats Goswami, Akshay Karnewar, Kulwan Khejroliya, Krushang Patel, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Washington Sundar, Rahil Shah. Coach: Hemang Badani.