 "Indian captain Virat Kohli, second left, and Wriddhiman Saha, second right, appeal a wicket on the fourth day of the first test between South Africa and India at Newlands Stadium, in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: AP/PTI")
Wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha is back in the scheme of things for India in the the longer format after being named in the A squad for the West Indies tour comprising five one-dayers and three four-day games beginning July 11.
The 34-year-old was India's number one Test wicket-keeper until a career-threatening shoulder injury ruled him out of action for almost one year.
Saha, who underwent a surgery in August last year, made his Bengal comeback with the Syed Mushtaq Ali and also played five games for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL which ended on Sunday.
With Rishabh Pant establishing himself in the Test team in his absence, Saha will have to prove himself to the selectors again.
The four-day games against West Indies A will be played from July 24 and will be preceded by a five-match one-day series from July 11. The tour has been scheduled ahead of the Test series against the West Indies as part of the inaugural ICC Test Championship which begins right after the 50-over World Cup.
The likes of Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari have been picked both in the one-day and four-day squad. Both the openers Shaw and Agarwal are expected to be picked in the Test squad for the West Indies series.
Shreyas Iyer will captain India A in the four-day games and Manish Pandey in the one-dayers.
Test regulars including R Ashwin, Cheteswar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and pacer Umesh Yadav have not been picked as they are likely to ply their trade in county cricket.
The selectors also announced the squads for the home series against Sri Lanka A beginning May 25. Jharkhand wicketkeeper batsman Ishan Kishan will lead India A in the two four-day games in Belgaum and Hubli while Gujarat's Priyank Panchal will captain the side in five one-dayers beginning June 6 in Hubli.
Squads:
India A squad for 2 multi-day matches against Sri Lanka A is as follows: Ishan Kishan (C & WK), Anmolpreet Singh, Rituraj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Ricky Bhui, Shubman Gill, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Washington Sundar, Mayank Markande, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Warrier, Ishan Porel, Prashant Chopra.
India A squad for 5 one-day matches against Sri Lanka A is as follows: PK Panchal (C), AR Easwaran, Anmolpreet Singh, Ricky Bhui, Siddhesh Lad, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, KS Bharat (WK), Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, A Sarwate, Sandeep Warrier, Ankit Rajpoot, Ishan Porel.
India A squad for 5 one-day matches against West Indies A is as follows: Manish Pandey (C), Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishab Pant (WK), Rahul Chahar, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan
India A squad for 1st & 2nd multi-day matches against West Indies A is as follows: Shreyas Iyer (C), PK Panchal, AR Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Shivam Dube, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), KS Bharat (WK), K Gowtham, S Nadeem, Mayank Markande, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan
India A squad for 3rd multi-day match against West Indies A is as follows: Shreyas Iyer (C), Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Shivam Dube, Mayank Markande, K Gowtham, S Nadeem, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan.
