Chennai: Rahul Dravid turned nostalgic at a media interaction last weekend after overseeing India A’s training session for the first time. The coach vividly recalled fond memories of being part of India ‘A’ tours and how they helped him develop camaraderie with the likes of Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman. “It was a time when, as young players, you’re competing for one or two slots with each other. But I think some of the friendships, some of the bonds that you form playing for India A, they never go away,” Dravid said.
As Dravid pointed out, India A’s four-day match against Australia A beginning here at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday holds greater significance in not just auditioning players for the future, but also to develop bonhomie that could pave way for a healthy dressing room environment. Out of the 15-member squad, seven players have already represented the senior team and they are now staking their claim after a slump. For skipper Cheteshwar Pujara, the two first-class matches against a quality opposition are a great opportunity to prove that he is, indeed, the best candidate to fill in the No.3 spot that was once owned by Dravid. Pujara is fresh from an English county stint and scoring runs at Chepauk in front of national selectors would only brighten his chance of reclaiming his spot in the eleven when India travel to Sri Lanka next month.
“It’s a great opportunity for the selectors to see how some of our young players cope against the Australian fast bowlers, and who can reach the next level. I think that is really important. If we get turners, we will get to know how our players deal with them,” said Dravid. K.L. Rahul, who scored a superb century in the Sydney Test earlier this year, is likely to open the innings with Abhinav Mukund, who was named in the A squad on the back his impressive Ranji season in which he led Tamil Nadu to second place. Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer and wicket-keeper batsman Naman Ojha are set to be the fulcrum of the middle-order, while local boy Vijay Shankar could grab the all-rounder spot.
With Varun Aaron being ruled out owing to a bout of viral fever, Umesh Yadav will spearhead the bowling attack. Chepauk strip sports a rare sight of a grass cover, but India may still go in with both their front-line spinners Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha. Pujara insisted that the combination would be decided only on the morning of Wednesday after checking the surface. “I think we will have a mixture of juniors and seniors,” said Pujara.
The Australians will have their sights set on the ongoing Ashes as their A squad has a string of potential candidates who could get a call-up if they come good here. England and Australia are scheduled to play three more Tests. Though captain Usman Khawaja, wicket-keeper batsman Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar, Joe Burns, Stephen O’Keefe and Callum Ferguson have the experience of playing for the country in different formats, not many in the team have tasted the conditions in the subcontinent.
Aussie vice-captain Wade said everyone in the team is nursing hopes of playing for the country. “We have one-dayers after the Ashes and a packed Australian summer is coming up. The A tour is one of the ways of staking our claim,” he said.
THE TEAMS
India ‘A’: Cheteshwar Pujara (C), K.L. Rahul, Abhinav Mukund, Karun Nari, Shreyas Iyer, Naman Ojha, Vijay Shankar, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Shardul Thakur, Abhimanyu Mithun, Umesh Yadav, Shreyas Gopal, B. Aparajith.
Australia ‘A’: Usman Khawaja (C), Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Sean Abbott, Andrew Fekete, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Callum Ferguson, Stephen O’Keefe, Gurinder Sandhu, Marcus Stoinis.
