The likes of Priyank Panchal and Rishabh Pant will get an opportunity to prove their mettle as India A, under Rahul Dravid’s guidance, is all set to tour South Africa in June, 2017.
The tour is expected to happen at the same time when the senior side will be in England for the ICC Champions Trophy.
As a part of BCCI’s policy of having more A tours in challenging conditions, the second batch of India hopefuls will be put to test in conditions where there will be more pace and bounce.
“Yes, India A’s tour of South Africa in the month of June, next year has been finalised. This is a part of BCCI promoting more A tours to get the talented India aspirants battle ready. The conditions there will test the quality of batsmanship,” said a senior BCCI office-bearer in the know.
The tour will have multiple four-day matches as well as List A (50-over matches) keeping in mind that from 2017, the preparation towards the 2019 World Cup commences.
The last time when India A toured South Africa was 2013 with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha all being a part of that set-up.
When India played there last time, the two four-day games were played at Rustenberg and Pretoria while the tri-series was entirely played in Pretoria. The Test series was drawn 1-1 while the tri-series was won by India.
The current tour has been scheduled after the 10th edition of Indian Premier League.
“The A tours give ideal opportunity to the performers in domestic cricket to showcase their talent. Look at the likes of Priyank Panchal, who has scored over 1,000 runs or youngsters like Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan who have caught the attention — the selectors will get a chance to test if they are ready for the next level or not,” a top BCCI source said.
The India team management’s current policy is to check the players thoroughly at the domestic and A level. It is the tour of Australia that convinced MSK Prasad and Gagan Khoda that Jayant Yadav is ready for international cricket.
Similarly, senior team coach Anil Kumble wanted Rahul Dravid to work on Hardik Pandya’s bowling and the all-rounder returned to the senior team with increased pace.
Meanwhile, the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal venues are set to be decided only after Jharkhand and Odisha play their final Ranji Trophy group league encounter starting in Thiruvananthapuram from tomorrow.
Comments
SHARE