Mumbai, Oct 21 : The national Men's Selection Committee has picked a 15-member India A squad for the upcoming tour of Australia, with Ruturaj Gaikwad named as captain for this tour by the fringe players of the country. Bengal Ranji Trophy opener Abhimanyu Easwaran will be Gaikwad's deputy for this red-ball tour with the likes of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Devdutt Padikkal, and Sai Sudharsan as other members of the squad.

Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal and Navdeep Saini will lead the India A attack on the tour which will coincide with the Border Gavaskar Trophy series between the senior teams of India and Australia. Ishan Kishan and Abishek Porel are the two wicketkeepers in the 15-member India A squad that will play two first-class matches against Australia A in Mackay and Melbourne respectively.

India A will also take part in a three-day intra-squad game against Team India (Senior Men) in Perth, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah informed in a release on Monday.

The India A tour of Australia will start with a four-day First-class match against Australia A at Mackay from October 31 to November 3. The second match will be played in Melbourne from November 7 to 10. India A will round off the tour with the three-day intra-squad clash with the senior men's team from November 15 to 17 at Perth.

The tour holds significance not only as an opportunity for players who are currently not in the senior men's squad to gain more exposure but also provides a reserve squad to deal with the unavailability of first-team players due to an injury or any other reason during a long tour which includes five-Test matches and will be followed by a white-ball series.

It is an opportunity for the players, especially pacers like Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed and Yash Dayal, to be acclimatised to conditions in Australia so that they can step up to the plate in case required.

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

Schedule:

Oct 31 to Nov 3: 1st first-class -- GBRA, Mackay

Nov 7 to 10: 2nd first-class -- MCG, Melbourne

Nov 15 to 17: Intra-squad Match Simulation -- WACA, Perth

/IANS