Selectors keen to get new players in India A squad

The BCCI’s senior national selection committee has identified close to a dozen players, outside of the India A squads, and are watching their performance in the ongoing Ranji Trophy championship.

The committee may be looking at Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal.

The BCCI’s senior national selection committee has identified close to a dozen players, outside of the India-A squads, and is watching their performance in the ongoing Ranji Trophy championship.

The committee consisting of M.S.K. Prasad, Sarandeep Singh, Devang Gandhi, Jatin Paranjape and Gagan Khoda chose an unprecedented 18 players for the four-Test series in Australia and should all-rounder Hardik Pandya clear the fitness test by playing in the next week’s Ranji Trophy round and the following round, he may be asked to join the squad in Australia.

The same selection committee has also chosen different India-A squads for the series against New Zealand-A. An official in the know of the selection committee’s ideas said: “They have discussed some players informally and are seeing the Ranji Trophy matches in which they are playing. They want to create an India-A platform for these players. The selectors are keen to give exposure to new players because the India-A suqad has virtualy remained the same in the last 12 months.”

The committee may be looking at Rajasthan seamer Nathu Singh, Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal and Karnataka youngster Devdutt Padikkal, to name a few.