In front of India’s visit to Bangladesh, the India A group will visit the country for two four-day matches beginning on Tuesday, November 29. The team will be led by Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran in the two games in Sylhet and Cox’s Bazaar.
Test regulars Cheteshwar Pujara, Umesh Yadav, and KS Bharat will join the 13-member squad for the first match for the second one. The substitution for the two-match Test series that will follow as part of the ongoing World Test Championship cycle is unsurprising.
It is essential to note that the Men in Blue’s participation in a three-match ODI series at the same time as the India A games may have resulted in the selection of a few players who did not make the cut. Having said that, there are others whose absence from the tour for the two four-day matches is regrettable
Let’s take a look at three notable players who will not be participating in India A tour of Bangladesh.
#1 Baba Indrajith
For a number of seasons, Baba Indrajith has been one of the most consistent batters on the circuit, scoring close to 4000 first-class runs at an average of 53.16. The batsman for Tamil Nadu, who also enjoys taking on leadership roles, scored three tons and a half-century in four matches in the Ranji Trophy in 2021 and 2022.
However, he was selected to participate in the Duleep Trophy rather than India A squad that played New Zealand in September. The batter, who is 28 years old and will be leading Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockouts around the same time, surprisingly failed to make the cut to tour Bangladesh as well.
#2 Rinku Singh
It is difficult to comprehend how Rinku Singh has not been included in the India A squads’ overall picture in recent times. After all, the 25-year-old southpaw epitomizes consistency with a first-class batting average close to 60.
The number of times the Uttar Pradesh batter has delivered when his team has its back to the wall is another thing that sets him apart. Rinku ought to be on the selectors’ radar because he has a long career ahead of him and the added advantage of being a left-handed batter.
He will regret not being selected for the India A team to play Bangladesh in the four-day tournament, and he will also regret not making the cut for the New Zealand match. He also had a good Ranji Trophy 2021-2022 season, scoring four half-centuries and averaging 58.83 points per game.
#3 Priyank Panchal
The skipper of Gujarat, Priyank Panchal, has been trying to get into the national team for a long time. He has also been called up to the main squad on a couple of occasions, but he has not yet been awarded a Test cap.
Panchal scored 201 runs in four innings against New Zealand An in September two half-hundreds years prior to coming in as a blackout substitute for Mayank Agarwal in the Irani Cup. Although he did not contribute to the game, his absence from the India A tour of Bangladesh squad surprised many.
Considering that he’s 32 years of age, the age variable could have steered the results for more youthful blood like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohan Kunnummal. Having said that, Panchal will be disappointed to not have been selected.