Yuvraj Singh would be the cynosure of all eyes when he captains India A, a team on a roll after the cleansweep against New Zealand A, in an ODI series against the West Indies A starting here tomorrow.
The glory of thrashing New Zealand A 3-0 was achieved under the captaincy of Unmukt Chand, who perfectly marshalled his team to victory.
All eyes, however, will be trained on how Yuvraj, who has been out of favour in the recent times, handles the team as a captain against the West Indians. The left-hander, who battled and won over cancer, would be aiming to get back into the reckoning.
Yuvraj is more often seen as a brutal force in limited overs cricket than in Tests with his ability to hit the ball clean and long.
Yuvraj aside, India A has its share of stars. Unmukt has scored 164 runs at an average of 48 with 94 being his highest in the three ODIs against New Zealand A, while Robin Uthappa has also scored a century in the lung-opener.
The Under-19 World Cup-winning captain would look for another good show from his bat to help his team get a good start.
Uthappa, who is in ODI exile, would be hoping to produce another sparkling show after the opening ODI ton to catch the eyes of national selectors given that a limited overs series against West Indies and South Africa is in sight.
Yuvraj will be hoping for Uthappa and Chand to dazzle in the opening ODI to give a boost to the middle-order, which came good in the last two ODIs against New Zealand A with the likes of Kedar Jadhav and Mandeep Singh rising to the occasion.
Jadhav has delivered consistently, making unbeaten 30, 37 and 57, respectively in the last series. The Maharashtra batsman will be hoping to get a chance to go up the order to showcase his talent.
Yusuf Pathan, who has been provided another lifeline by selectors, will hope to recover from his steep fall since the 2011 World Cup. He is a powerful and aggressive right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler.
