India A squad for England tour announced; Karun, Ishan, Shardul among notable names

MUMBAI: The India A squad for the tour to England was announced on Friday, with several notable players part of the squad, including Karun Nair, who got the reward for an extraordinary season of domestic cricket.

As a part of the tour, India A will play two first-class matches against the England Lions at Canterbury and Northampton on May 30 and June 6, before concluding their outing with an intra-squad match against Team India on June 13 at Beckenham.

The team will be led by Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has been a domestic cricket stalwart for Bengal, with 101 first-class games, 7,674 runs at an average of 48.87, 27 centuries and 29 fifties behind him. He did have a disappointing tour to Australia last year, where he ended up with just 36 runs in four innings.

Batters Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan will join the squad ahead of the second match. Currently, they are serving as the backbone of Gujarat Titans (GT) batting line-up, with 508 runs in 11 matches (five half-centuries) and 509 runs in 11 matches (with five fifties) respectively.

The dream domestic season 2024-25 for Vidarbha star Nair concluded with the 863-run season in Ranji, with an average of 53.93, four centuries and two fifties in 16 innings across nine matches. His best score of 135 came in the final, and his team emerged victorious.

A massive highlight of his season was the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day tournament, where he top-scored with 779 runs in nine matches and eight innings at a stunning average of 389.50 and a strike rate of 124.04, with five centuries and a fifty and best score of 163*. He played a massive role in his team’s run to the finals, where they lost to his former team, Karnataka.

In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 competition, Nair made 255 runs in six innings, averaging 42.50 at a strike rate of 177.08, with three half-centuries and the best score of 77. His team was knocked out in the quarterfinals.

This strong performance has reignited hopes for an India call-up for Nair, who last played for India in 2017. Nair was the only Test triple centurion for India after legendary opener Virender Sehwag.

Indian team’s regular opener, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has been an integral part of the top order since his debut in 2023 at the international level, will also be playing the India A matches. In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, he has so far made 473 runs in 12 matches at an average of 43.00, with five fifties. He also had a memorable Border-Gavaskar Trophy for India and was one of their brightest spots with 391 runs in five matches, with a century and two fifties in 10 innings.

Also, wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and pacer Akash Deep, who had some promising outings during the ICC World Test Championship cycle 2025-27 against England and Australia, are included in the squad. The strongest performer out of these has been Nitish, who made a stunning Test debut in Australia, with 298 runs in five matches at an average of 37.22, including a century at the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

Jurel has played four Tests for India, scoring 202 runs at an average of 40.40, with a fifty. He also shone for India A with some solid performances in Australia against Australia A last year.

Also, Ishan Kishan, who made his return to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Central Contract this year after being excluded from it last year, has been added as a second-wicketkeeper-batter option alongside Jurel. Ishan has played two Tests for India, scoring 78 runs in three innings including a fifty.

Shardul Thakur, who has delivered some fighting outings in England, notably three half-centuries, including of which came in the ICC World Test Championship final against Australia, has earned his way back into the set-up after a dream Ranji Trophy season, scoring 505 runs in nine matches with a century and four fifties and taking 35 wickets at an average of 22.62.

Sarfaraz Khan, who has played six Tests for India, scoring 371 runs with a century and three fifties, and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has played 6 ODIs and 23 T20Is for India, will also be aiming to make an impression with their performances.

Among bowlers, Akash, who has taken 15 wickets in seven Tests for India and has so far taken three wickets for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2025, will test his bowling in English conditions, which are friendly to pacers.

Other bowlers include pacers Mukesh Kumar, Anshul Kambhoj, left-armer Khaleel Ahmed, Tushar Deshpande and spin bowling all-rounders Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian and Harsh Dubey.

Notably, Harsh played a crucial role in Vidarbha’s Ranji campaign, securing the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award with 476 runs (including five fifties) and a record-breaking 69 wickets for his side.

Anshul (four wickets in six matches) and Khaleel (14 wickets in 12 matches) are a part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bowling line-up.

Pacer Harshit Rana, who has represented India in all formats, is also in the squad. He has represented India in two Tests, taking four wickets, and has 10 wickets in five ODIs for India and three wickets in a solitary T20I for India. In the IPL 2025 for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) so far, Rana has taken 15 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 27.20.

India A squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (VC) (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (WK), Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harsh Dubey. (ANI)