Deepak Chahar, Ishan Kishan added to India A squad for South Africa tour - Reports

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors have reportedly added pacer Deepak Chahar and wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan to India A side for the South Africa tour. The duo will fly to Bloemfontein after finishing the third and final T20I match against New Zealand on Sunday (November 21). The rest of the India A squad members have already reached Bloemfontein for the red-ball series.

According to a report in Cricbuzz, Chahar and Kishan will assemble in Mumbai on November 24 and then fly off to South Africa. All-rounder Shardul Thakur is also likely to join the duo after some time. India A team are scheduled to play three four-day matches against South Africa A side in Bloemfontein starting on November 23. The second and third game will be played from November 29 and December 6 respectively.

The Priyank Panchal-led side will be coached by Shitanshu Kotak, which also sees Sairaj Bahutule as the bowling coach and T Ghosh as the fielding coach. The 26 member India A squad have reportedly reached Bloemfontein by charter plane and will now undergo quarantine. 

The India A squad will see Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, K Gowtham, and Rahul Chahar in action. Apart from Sarfaraz, all the players have made their India debuts in the white-ball matches. Shaw has played for India in the Test format as well. The series will provide the squad an opportunity to experience South African conditions. The players will get good exposure and some much-needed lessons on how to handle pace and bounce.

India ‘A’ squad for South Africa tour: Priyank Panchal (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Baba Aparajith, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Upendra Yadav (wicket-keeper), K Gowtham, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Umran Malik, Ishan Porel, Deepak Chahar and Arzan Nagwaswalla.