Anukul Roy joins India A squad ahead of Australia A one-day series

Left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Anukul Roy has joined the India A squad as Naman Dhir’s replacement for the three-match one-day series against Australia A. Dhir was called up to India’s senior T20I squad for the West Indies series

Puducherry: Left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Anukul Roy has been drafted into the India A squad for the upcoming three-match one-day series against Australia A as a replacement for Naman Dhir, who was called up to the senior men’s T20I squad for the five-match series against the West Indies.

Dhir was included in India’s T20I squad for the series against the West Indies as a replacement for off-spin bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar, who was released to play Ranji Trophy cricket for Tamil Nadu ahead of India’s Test tour of New Zealand next month.

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“Anukul was in Srinagar as a member of the Rest of India Irani Cup team before travelling to Puducherry to join the India A squad after Naman was called up for the upcoming senior men’s T20I duty,” a source privy to the developments told IANS on Sunday.

Anukul, who plays for Jharkhand in domestic cricket, was a member of the India A squad for the 50-over tri-series in Sri Lanka in June. He played five games, scoring a highest of 39 with the bat and taking seven wickets as India A won the trophy.

He then turned out for East Zone in their victorious Duleep Trophy campaign, scoring 37, 16, 0, 45 and 64 with the bat while picking up seven wickets, including a five-wicket haul against North East Zone.

Previously, seam-bowling all-rounder Suryansh Shedge was drafted into the India A squad as a replacement for injured Hardik Pandya, who is nursing a right medial tibial stress syndrome injury.

The three-match unofficial ODI series between India A and Australia A begins at the Cricket Association Puducherry Siechem Ground on Tuesday, with the match scheduled to start at 2 pm. The subsequent matches will be played on October 9 and 11, respectively, and will begin at 9 am.

India A skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad will link up with the squad after being part of India’s 2-1 ODI series win over the West Indies, while Vipraj Nigam and Yash Thakur are scheduled to arrive after being part of the Asian Games gold medal-winning team.

Updated India A squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Priyansh Arya, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal (vice-captain), Rajat Patidar, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Arshin Kulkarni, Arshad Khan, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Gurjapneet Singh, Yash Thakur, Suryansh Shedge and Anukul Roy.