India A Squad For England Tour

India A has released its squad for the tour of England and it appears to be a robust lineup headed by Abhimanyu Easwaran. The team includes some promising young guns such as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Both of these players have been picked for India A for the important Test matches. The pair of Jaiswal and Gaikwad have been received well as both have been in excellent form of late. The team will also welcome Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill for the second match of the tour.

The side also features Karun Nair and Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur who has been playing in good domestic form of late. Thakur's presence indicates that the selectors are rewarding consistent performances. The team also includes wicketkeepers Ishan Kishan and Dhruv Jurel with Jurel being the vice-captain. The spinners will be Manav Suthar Harsh Dubey and Tanush Kotian. Harsh Dubey's inclusion is after his sterling performance in the latest Ranji Trophy tournament where he was awarded player of the tournament.

The pace unit appears balanced with Khaleel Ahmed Akash Deep Tushar Deshpande Mukesh Kumar Harshit Rana and Anshul Kamboj. Shardul Thakur and Deep bring experience to the fast bowling department. The fact that Ruturaj Gaikwad has been included also means that he has recovered well from his elbow injury that cut short his IPL 2025 season with Chennai Super Kings. Devdutt Padikkal is not included because of a hamstring injury which has kept him away since his recent spell in the Australia A tour last winter.

A few players from the last Australia A tour such as Ricky Bhui Baba Indrajith Abishek Porel Yash Dayal and Navdeep Saini are not included in this team. Gaikwad's inclusion indicates that he is progressing well in his rehab. The tour is a great opportunity for the likes of Jaiswal and Reddy to acclimatize themselves with the English conditions before the big Tests. The schedule also suits perfectly as Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad are both already eliminated from the IPL 2025 playoffs so their inclusion would be convenient.

If the Gujarat Titans make it to the IPL final then Sudharsan and Gill could have a hectic schedule ahead as the final is scheduled on June 3 while the first match between India A and the England Lions will be played on May 30. The second match will start on June 6 and that does not leave much time for travel and adjusting to the red-ball format. The tour will also feature a third game where the senior Indian team will face India A before the highly anticipated five-match Test series against England.