India A will visit Australia in October 2024, ahead of the Test side, as they have done over the past few years. On the tour, they will play two four-day “Tests” against Australia A, at Mackay from October 31 and at Melbourne from November 7.

This will be followed by a three-day game against the touring Indian Test side from November 15 at Perth, the venue of the first Test match. India and India A have simultaneously been on tours before. There have been instances of India A cricketers (most famously Rishabh Pant in England in 2018) being drafted into the Test side while on tour.

India A squad for Australia tour: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), Abishek Porel (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Baba Indrajith, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal, Navdeep Saini, Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian

Here are the key takeaways from the squad.

Shootout for left-arm fast bowlers

The Indian pace attack will almost certainly be boosted as and when Mohammed Shami returns, but they will still lack one aspect – the left-arm angle. To resolve that, India have recalled Jaydev Unadkat in the past. This time, they have included two.

Khaleel Ahmed has played ODIs and T20Is for India (he made a comeback in the latter this year), while Yash Dayal has been part of the Indian Test squad at home. It is very likely that one of them may be drafted into the Indian Test side, more so after the success of T Natarajan, who got 3-78 after being drafted into the Brisbane Test of 2020/21 in the aftermath of a string of injuries to the frontline pacers.

Kishan is back in contention, Shreyas isn’t

When the BCCI announced their list of central contracts this year, neither Ishan Kishan nor Shreyas Iyer was part of the list. Kishan has now found his way back to the India A side after hundreds in the Duleep Trophy and the Ranji Trophy. With KS Bharat having slipped out of the radar, Kishan is probably third in the line of Test wicketkeepers, after Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel.

Despite leading the Kolkata Knight Riders to an IPL title after 10 years, Iyer has not been as fortunate. He had a bizarre run in domestic cricket, where he had one single-digit score (including three ducks) and one thirty-plus (including three fifties) in each of five games. He followed this with 142 against Maharashtra, but it was not enough for him to break through.

Reddy’s stocks rise

An excellent IPL helped Nitish Kumar Reddy to secure a place in the Indian T20I squad for the Zimbabwe tour, but injuries forced him to opt out. When he finally played, against Bangladesh, he impressed – particularly at Delhi.

By picking him for the Duleep Trophy, the selectors had made it evident that Reddy was in contention for the longest format. It was a big call: until then, Reddy had an unremarkable 18-match first-class career across four years. If he impresses for India A, Reddy – a pace-bowling all-rounder who can bat in the top seven (or even six) – will be almost certainly be in Test contention.

The other heir to Ashwin

India have drafted Washington Sundar into the Test squad for the series against New Zealand at home, but is he really a like-for-like replacement for R Ashwin? Washington averages 29.92 with the ball in first-class cricket. And despite having a famous debut at the same Gabba Test, his six wickets from four Tests (including three in India) have come at 49.83 – though he has impressed with the bat.

In first-class cricket, Washington has played only eight games since the start of the 2023/24 season – and has taken only 14 wickets in these. He does not bowl enough in the longest format. If India need a replacement for Ashwin, the second-oldest active Test cricketer in the world, Washington may only be a short-term solution.

That is probably why Tanush Kotian has made it to the India A side. Roughly as old as Washington, Kotian had a watershed season in the 2023/24 Ranji Trophy, where his 502 runs and 29 wickets from 10 games helped him win the Player of the Tournament award. Kotian then impressed at the Duleep Trophy and hit a hundred in the Irani Cup. After 32 first-class games, he averages 42.31 with the bat and 25 with the ball.

He will be tested with the Kookaburra on the hard, unyielding surfaces of Australia, where his batting may give him the edge over left-arm spinner Manav Suthar. If he comes through in flying colours, he may keep Washington on his toes.

Easwaran relegated?

Abhimanyu Easwaran has led India A in the last three unofficial “Test” series he has featured in – in Bangladesh in 2022/23, and in South Africa and against the England Lions at home in 2023/24. In domestic cricket, five of his last nine first-class innings have been hundreds (including three unbeaten ones). Easwaran was also called up to the Test squad to Bangladesh in 2022/23.

All this perhaps indicate that Easwaran was at the top of the pecking order of reserve openers (though two middle-order batters in the Test squad – Shubman Gill and KL Rahul – have had long stints as Test openers). With Rohit Sharma set to miss at least one Test in Australia, there is an outside chance of India drafting an extra opener into the squad.

While there is no evidence of 27-year-old Ruturaj Gaikwad’s appointment as India A captain pushing 29-year-old Easwaran down the pecking order, it may eventually turn out to be the case. On the other hand, it might have to do with the selectors identifying Gaikwad as a future captain: he has, after all, already led India in T20Is, and is the current captain of the Chennai Super Kings.

To keep both Gaikwad and Easwaran on their toes will be Sai Sudharshan, who is also part of the touring party and has been in impressive form in first-class cricket this season. Together, these three might very well be auditioning for the role of the third opener for the Australia Tests.

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