India A team to play South Africa A: Pant captain

[Sooda]

So many Questions:

 

Where is Sarfaraz, he has couple of decent knocks Vs J&K?

 

Why no Y Rathod & D Malewar? Malewar opened well in Duleep.

 

Why does 2nd match team have 5 pacers and the first squad 2? Make it make sense. Great that Gurnoor is there but he should have been in first squad too. He may not even play now with how stacked the second squad is

 

Why do India seniors need to play this match they should turn out for state to warm up , A team should be for promising youngsters 

 

Mhatre needs more time! Has promise but at least one more season, has been inconsistent in FC. Easwaran should be in both matches.

 

Surely they cant consider Jaga as test opener, he seems to be only other opener in first squad. I do Hope Sai opens.

 

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/rishabh-pant-to-lead-india-a-in-four-day-series-against-south-africa-a-1508056

 

The first four-day game will start on October 30, with the second one beginning on November 6. These two matches will serve as a precursor to the two-match Test series between India and South Africa.

 

For 1st four-day match: Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), Ayush Mhatre, N Jagdeesan (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Anshul Kamboj, Yash Thakur, Ayush Badoni, Saransh Jain.

 

For 2nd four-day match: Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.

Edited October 21, 2025 by Sooda

[Lone Wolf]

Such a weird squad. Gurnoor should have been in 1st game as well.

 

2 Pacers in First A game and 5 in second A game??

Who are these low IQ retard selectors??

[Sooda]

19 minutes ago, Lone Wolf said:

Such a weird squad. Gurnoor should have been in 1st game as well.

 

2 Pacers in First A game and 5 in second A game??

Who are these low IQ retard selectors??

 

Makes no sense at all

[singhvivek141]

2 hours ago, Lone Wolf said:

Such a weird squad. Gurnoor should have been in 1st game as well.

 

2 Pacers in First A game and 5 in second A game??

Who are these low IQ retard selectors??

2 pacers ?

Are you counting Kambojh as a pacer ?

 

Gurnoor is in squad for 2nd match...but will he get pref over Prasidh, Akashdeep, Siraj ?

Edited October 21, 2025 by singhvivek141

[Chaos]

Yayyy pant is back

[tweaker]

Why should Rahul,Siraj still play with A team.

 

Why the Team India regulars are robbing places of youngsters 

[Vickydev]

Pretty random squad. Patidar scored well in Duleep Trophy so nice to see he is back

[Nikhil_cric]

12 hours ago, Vickydev said:

Pretty random squad. Patidar scored well in Duleep Trophy so nice to see he is back

He is 32.  I'm not sure why he is selected. Would be the Karun Nair mistake all over again. 

 

 

[tapandrun]

16 minutes ago, Nikhil_cric said:

He is 32.  I'm not sure why he is selected. Would be the Karun Nair mistake all over again. 

 

 

They have been doing that just spread out opportunities to the players in various teams and formats regardless of they are suited for that particular format or not.

They are doing it to keep IPL franchises and sm happy , if they wanted to give him proper chance then he should have been selected for white-ball

 

Edited October 22, 2025 by tapandrun

[Nikhil_cric]

1 hour ago, tapandrun said:

They have been doing that just spread out opportunities to the players in various teams and formats regardless of they are suited for that particular format or not.

They are doing it to keep IPL franchises and sm happy , if they wanted to give him proper chance then he should have been selected for white-ball

 

I think our batting stocks are too strong for him to even be considered for international cricket. 

 

He's a good domestic bully no doubt.  A younger sub-28 years old player would've gained a lot more from playing these A tours. 

 

 

[Sooda]

28 minutes ago, Nikhil_cric said:

I think our batting stocks are too strong for him to even be considered for international cricket. 

 

He's a good domestic bully no doubt.  A younger sub-28 years old player would've gained a lot more from playing these A tours. 

 

 

 

Agree, he's been tried out too. I think they are better test options- Sarfaraz obviously but also Yash Rathod and Danish Malewar.

 

Rajat could be a good T20is option when main 11 are rested or out. 

[Sooda]

18 hours ago, tweaker said:

Why should Rahul,Siraj still play with A team.

 

Why the Team India regulars are robbing places of youngsters 

Yes... If they need warming up for tests, play for state !

[ShoonyaSifar]

@Sooda I see both Gurnoor Brar and Khaleel Ahmedabad in the squad for game 1 along with Kamboj.

 

For 2nd game , 5 pacers likely due to uncertainty on the workload situation of Siraj, Akashdeep and Prasidh. Will assess close to the match and ask those not in the 11 to join their Ranji teams.

 

I wrote about Sarfaraz situation in the main thread on him

 Summary is : massive weight loss -> quadriceps injury - > easing into normal FC routine, has played one game. Remains a massive injury risk to same quadriceps, best to go easy through the Ranji route for a couple of rounds. God forbid he does his same quadriceps again, will mean a surgery ruling him out of another FC season. Not easy to lose 17 kgs and retain same fitness levels immediately.

 

Only questionable selection IMO is Ayush Mhatre but that can be justified as backing the current u-19 captain.

[tapandrun]

6 hours ago, Nikhil_cric said:

I think our batting stocks are too strong for him to even be considered for international cricket. 

 

He's a good domestic bully no doubt.  A younger sub-28 years old player would've gained a lot more from playing these A tours. 

 

 

This is in general , not particular to Rajat. 

t20 wc cycle is 2 yrs, and if some1 is doing good and is in good form during that cycle should be tried in the side regardless of age.

T20 cricket is moving so fast that every 3-4 there are huge changes coming in how teams plays.

Just 6 month back we thought Ind batting is next tier but now see how quickly Aus and Eng has caught up and even SA. 

 

If a senior player is selected that should be for some specific reason and should be certainity in the 11 and should not be on bench and perform straight away. No point in keeping them on bench.

 

 

[tweaker]

On 10/21/2025 at 1:56 PM, Sooda said:

The first four-day game will start on October 30, with the second one beginning on November 6. These two matches will serve as a precursor to the two-match Test series between India and South Africa.

 

For 1st four-day match: Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), Ayush Mhatre, N Jagdeesan (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Anshul Kamboj, Yash Thakur, Ayush Badoni, Saransh Jain.

 

For 2nd four-day match: Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.

Yash and Kamboj, only 2 pacers are selected. 

 

Aquib Nabi should be added to squad 

[ShoonyaSifar]

46 minutes ago, tweaker said:

Yash and Kamboj, only 2 pacers are selected. 

 

Aquib Nabi should be added to squad 

Where do you get your info from? Gurnoor and Khaleel Ahmed are also in the squad for both games. Siraj, Akashdeep and Prasidh will join for the second game with Yash and Kamboj. See the official release 

 

https://www.bcci.tv/articles/2025/news/55556274/india-a-squad-for-four-day-matches-against-south-africa-a-announced

 

 

[tweaker]

On 10/21/2025 at 1:56 PM, Sooda said:

For 1st four-day match: Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), Ayush Mhatre, N Jagdeesan (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Anshul Kamboj, Yash Thakur, Ayush Badoni, Saransh Jain.

 

Where do you get your info from? Gurnoor and Khaleel Ahmed are also in the squad for both games. Siraj, Akashdeep and Prasidh will join for the second game with Yash and Kamboj. See the official release 

[Sooda]

18 hours ago, ShoonyaSifar said:

Where do you get your info from? Gurnoor and Khaleel Ahmed are also in the squad for both games. Siraj, Akashdeep and Prasidh will join for the second game with Yash and Kamboj. See the official release 

 

https://www.bcci.tv/articles/2025/news/55556274/india-a-squad-for-four-day-matches-against-south-africa-a-announced

 

 

 

17 hours ago, tweaker said:

 

Where do you get your info from? Gurnoor and Khaleel Ahmed are also in the squad for both games. Siraj, Akashdeep and Prasidh will join for the second game with Yash and Kamboj. See the official release 

 

Haha

 

I literally copied it from sports star

 

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/cricket/india-a-vs-south-africa-a-squad-four-day-match-rishabh-pant-captain-team-players-list/article70185493.ece

[ShoonyaSifar]

22 minutes ago, Sooda said:

 

 

Haha

 

I literally copied it from sports star

 

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/cricket/india-a-vs-south-africa-a-squad-four-day-match-rishabh-pant-captain-team-players-list/article70185493.ece

@Sooda so @tweakercopy pasted my post in response to it! Genius

 

BCCI Release always had Gurnoor and Khaleel as well in the squad.

[cowboysfan]

Mhatre the pill has found a way to fail upward,he has done jackshit to be playing under 19 tests let alone for India A,we seem to be using IPL  to recruit Test players.