India A tour of England

[test fan]

10 minutes ago, lemsip said:

These are not warm up games for the selected India side. It is an India-A tour game and only players the BCCI agreed to release early from IPL were in the squad because their teams didn't make the later rounds. To play these game was not Sudarshan's decision to make. The same argument goes for all other players who landed today as well. Their acclimitisation and practise games will begin now and are separate from the India A tour.

Doesn't matter now.  Player who grabbed the Apportunity at the right time always gets the benefits.  Pant hasn't played any A match still His place is secured because of  past performance.  Sai is still newbies to test cricket . He hasn't prove anything so far  . IPL performance doens't matter for test cricket m

[test fan]

Reddy is walking wickets in english conditions so better to not play him. His bowling is nothing special for test cricket.  Reddy honeymoon period is over now. 

[lemsip]

5 minutes ago, LordPrabhzy said:

His team was knocked out a few days before the Q2 and FInal- he could have himself requested to come to Eng and play these matches but he chose not too.. hes a debutant he needs to show how serious he is about red ball cricket.. the others are established members of the test team. There is a difference but having your captain being your franchise captain comes with perks..

That is a strange take. He has arrived in England a full 2 weeks before the first test like most other members of the side ! Like I said the India A tour was arranged as separate tour for a 2nd string players who could come in if required but its purpose is not to serve as warm up games for tests.  People like Jaiswal and KL have used it for that purpose but that was not the intent behind these games.  it is not the first time that India or other sides have A team tours going on parallel to the main squad's itinerary. A potential debutante like Sudarshan can't just demand that the BCCI parachute him into an India A squad in which he was not originally named.

[test fan]

From Rahul's knock today, we can let Easwaran's career RIP. He has fumbled once again on his last hurdle. 

[lemsip]

8 minutes ago, test fan said:

He hasn't prove anything so far 

That is the key issue. You are judging him before he has even had a chance to play a practice game and just landed with the team a few hours ago ! Your criticism is that he hasn't taking his chances when he was never part of the India A squad anyway ! Why have the selectors  named him in the India national XI as a full time batsman ? That squad incidentally has only just arrived a full 2 weeks before the test series actually begins. Might as well send him on the next flight back home !

Edited June 6, 2025 by lemsip

[test fan]

3 minutes ago, lemsip said:

That is a strange take. He has arrived in England a full 2 weeks before the first test like most other members of the side ! Like I said the India A tour was arranged as separate tour for a 2nd string players who could come in if required but its purpose is not to serve as warm up games for tests.  People like Jaiswal and KL have used it for that purpose but that was not the intent behind these games.  it is not the first time that India or other sides have A team tours going on parallel to the main squad's itinerary. A potential debutante like Sudarshan can't just demand that the BCCI parachute him into an India A squad in which he was not originally named.

What rubbish you're talking? Sai is second string player not Jaiswal ,Jurel ,karun etc .they are already played the test cricket and proven performer unlike Sai . Sai is second string player here .

 

[LordPrabhzy]

Just now, test fan said:

What rubbish you're talking? Sai is second string player not Jaiswal ,Jurel ,karun etc .they are already played the test cricket and proven performer unlike Sai . Sai is second string player here .

 

What hes chosing to ignore that Jaiswal etc could have also landed today but they CHOSE to be part of the India A team to practice for two matches to give themselves the best start to the tour and use all batting practice but Sai did not- saying that BCCI would refuse a request from a uncapped player to go early and practice is utter crap

[test fan]

Sai could have come England along with Rahul but he choose to stay in india just for attending the IPL final ceremony.  If he was so serious about test cricket he should have come earlier to play 2nd unofficial test.  KL has comes early when his place is already fix in the playing Eleven because he want to prepare well for test series. 

[lemsip]

6 minutes ago, test fan said:

What rubbish you're talking? Sai is second string player not Jaiswal ,Jurel ,karun etc .they are already played the test cricket and proven performer unlike Sai . Sai is second string player here .

 

Try to understand what you are talking about. The first XI and A squads were selected by BCCI and their travel etc is decided by the boards not individual players. it is not upto the players to decide for themselves when they want to play an India A game especially junior players.

Gill and Sudarshan were expected to join the A squad together for  today's game as it turns out the BCCi kept both back so they travelled together with the rest of the squad landing just as the game was starting. The A squad will play the full team as the next game and I would make the judgement based on his performance there.

Unlike you, I am not writing him off because of  a preconception  that he is rubbish before the guy has even had a chance to make his case or play a practice game in England through a schedule controlled by the BCCI !

 

[LordPrabhzy]

1 minute ago, lemsip said:

Try to understand what you are talking about. The first XI and A squads were selected by BCCI and their travel etc is decided by the boards not individual players. it is not upto the players to decide for themselves when they want to play an India A game especially junior players.

Gill and Sudarshan were expected to join the A squad together for  today's game as it turns out the BCCi kept both back so they travelled together with the rest of the squad landing just as the game was starting. The A squad will play the full team as the next game and I would make the judgement based on his performance there.

Unlike you, I am not writing him off because of  a preconception  that he is rubbish before the guy has even had a chance to make his case or play a practice game in England through a schedule controlled by the BCCI !

 

ok point granted but would you start him in the first test in place of Jurel or Karun? who both have got big runs? Is it fair or because he knows he's got backing of his GT captain who is coincidently the Test team captain?

[lemsip]

18 minutes ago, LordPrabhzy said:

What hes chosing to ignore that Jaiswal etc could have also landed today but they CHOSE to be part of the India A team to practice for two matches to give themselves the best start to the tour and use all batting practice but Sai did not- saying that BCCI would refuse a request from a uncapped player to go early and practice is utter crap

Jaiswal was named in the India A squad from day 1 and it was clear he would play both tests. The announcement made it clear that Gill and Sudarshan would target today's India A game. Both were kept back by BCCI ( travel arrangements for players especially junior players are controlled by BCCI - they are not high flyers like Kohli who hop countries on a whim). If the Indian team management thought it was important that Sudarshan travel separately to  make today's game, all they had to do was ask. I would cut a junior player a lot of slack and would treat it as a BCCi matter not a player issue. Anyway, we shall see !

[lemsip]

5 minutes ago, LordPrabhzy said:

ok point granted but would you start him in the first test in place of Jurel or Karun? who both have got big runs? Is it fair or because he knows he's got backing of his GT captain who is coincidently the Test team captain?

I would look at how he performs in the next practice match. I would pick Karun based on performance. Other than that I would want a top order pedigree batsman in the lineup.if Sudarshan makes a solid score and looks good, I would select both him and Karun. If he looks out of his depth then Jurel is ok. India need to groom proper top order  test batsmen again after Kohli and I feel players like Sudarshan need to be given opportunities. As an emergency, I am OK to use a keeper/middle order batsman like Jurel for an emergency patch up job but role clarity is important.

[LordPrabhzy]

5 minutes ago, lemsip said:

I would look at how he performs in the next practice match. I would pick Karun based on performance. Other than that I would want a top order pedigree batsman in the lineup.if Sudarshan makes a solid score and looks good, I would select both him and Karun. If he looks out of his depth then Jurel is ok. India need to groom proper top order  test batsmen again after Kohli and I feel players like Sudarshan need to be given opportunities. As an emergency, I am OK to use a keeper/middle order batsman like Jurel for an emergency patch up job but role clarity is important.

 

I would rate Jurel's runs over unfamiliar bowlers than Sudershan's runs against people he knows and has faced multiple times before in a non serious inter squad match

[putrevus]

You need top order batsman not Jurel to play as batsman. Jurel is standby WK. Sai has to play first test.

[LordPrabhzy]

4 minutes ago, putrevus said:

You need top order batsman not Jurel to play as batsman. Jurel is standby WK. Sai has to play first test.

based on IPL orange cap only? and no serious red ball match for 6 months?

 

Ok got it

[lemsip]

4 minutes ago, LordPrabhzy said:

I would rate Jurel's runs over unfamiliar bowlers than Sudershan's runs against people he knows and has faced multiple times before in a non serious inter squad match

Many of the bowlers in the two lions games were young kids who are barely beyond club standard. They had Woakes today but the rest of the attack was far lower in standard than the Bumrah, Siraj, Prasidh  attack they will face in the next inter-squad game. In the previous game both teams scored 550+ and the kids from the England A side scored 3 centurues so batting wasn't exactly a huge challenge.

[LordPrabhzy]

Sudharshan played 1 ranji match in 2025 and scored 9 runs in the match and in Aus India A tour he didnt set the world on fire- on what basis was he selected for Test team? Clearly this is IPL lobby and captain promoting their own players based on IPL performance

[lemsip]

48 minutes ago, LordPrabhzy said:

Sudharshan played 1 ranji match in 2025 and scored 9 runs in the match and in Aus India A tour he didnt set the world on fire- on what basis was he selected for Test team? Clearly this is IPL lobby and captain promoting their own players based on IPL performance

The point is that now that he is in the squad ( whether or not you like it), he needs to be given a fair chance to show whether he can perform. I trust the slectors enough to at least identify a promising 23 year old candidate for the future. The team needs to be rebuilt  from a situation when it kept carrying ageing veterans whose best days were behind them. Now it is up to him to force his way into the team based on performances or give way to someone else but I don't mind giving some youngsters a chance. If you go purely by FC stats, Sarfaraz should be playing every match.

[vvvslaxman]

3 hours ago, LordPrabhzy said:

Sudharshan played 1 ranji match in 2025 and scored 9 runs in the match and in Aus India A tour he didnt set the world on fire- on what basis was he selected for Test team? Clearly this is IPL lobby and captain promoting their own players based on IPL performance

 

You think Kohli was setting Ranji Trophy ablaze when he was picked for tests. There were several guys who scored much more than him. Rohit and Badrinath were the chart toppers. Same with Ashwin who had one good season in first class. I think it is the potential. Heck every single Australian podcasters were talking about Sai as a potential test match material. Many players since Tendulkar era were picked for potential. 

 

 

[rkt.india]

8 hours ago, putrevus said:

You need top order batsman not Jurel to play as batsman. Jurel is standby WK. Sai has to play first test.

Jurel can easily play as a specialist batsman. According to this logic, sangakkara, abdv, ben ducket were also wk but played as specialist batsmen.