On a high after their limited overs tri-series final win over Australia A, India A will aim to take their recent form into the longer format when they take on South Africa A in their first four-day match which starts at the Krishnagiri Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday.
Ambati Rayudu will lead the hosts in the two-match series.
Before the tri-series, India A had played a couple of four-day matches against Australia A. The first match was drawn while the hosts lost the second by 10 wickets despite the presence of acknowledged batsmen Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha.
But that debacle should not play on the hosts' minds. The Rahul Dravid-coached side will aim to look at the upcoming game as a fresh start and deliver their best.
Apart from Rayudu, vice-captain Karun Nair, Abhinav Mukund and Shreyas Iyer will hold the key in the batting department.
Medium-pacer Ishwar Pandey, young right-arm spinner Baba Aparajith, Axar Patel, Karn Sharma and Abhimanyu Mithun will be the strengths as far as the team's bowling is concerned.
Pandey, who has 139 wickets from 35 first-class matches with 8/84 being his best figures, will lead the pace attack.
On the other hand, the South Africans ruined their tour when 10 of their players were hospitalized due to food poisoning during the tri-series. It was one of the reasons they did not perform well, and the Proteas will aim to fix the damage by bringing in their best in the longer format.
Their batting will depend heavily on skipper Dane Vilas, Temba Bavuma and Theunis de Bruyn. The experienced Marchant de Lange, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Beuran Hendricks and all-rounder David Wiese are likely to form the fast bowling line-up.
With both sides looking balanced but lacking international exposure, they will bank on their first-class experience to perform and put up a good show in the series.
Squads:
India A: Ambati Rayudu (captain), Karun Nair, Abhinav Mukund, Ankush Bains, Shreyas Iyer, Baba Aparajith, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Axar Patel, Karn Sharma, Abhimanyu Mithun, Shradul Thakur, Ishwar Pandey, Sheldon Jackson, Jiwanjot Singh.
South Africa A: Dane Vilas (captain), Temba Bavuma, Gihahn Cloete, Theunis de Bruyn, Marchant de Lange, Beuran Hendricks,Reeza Hendricks, Keshav Maharaj, Dane Paterson, Dane Piedt,. Omphile Ramela, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Stiaan van Zyl, Hardus Viljoen, David Wiese
