Shreyas Iyer, who was excluded from the Test setup and the upcoming Asia Cup T20Is, was appointed on Saturday (September 6, 2025) to captain the India A team in two unofficial four day matches against Australia A in Lucknow.

Iyer, who wasn’t even selected as a reserve for the Asia Cup starting on Tuesday (September 9, 2025).

He is currently playing for West Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal against Central Zone in Bengaluru.

The first unofficial Test is scheduled from September 16-19, and the second will take place from September 23-26 at the Ekana Stadium.

Karun Nair, who got injured while batting in the fifth and final Test at The Oval against England and also missed the Maharaja Trophy (KSCA T20 tournament), hasn’t been included in the squad.

India’s wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel, who participated in the fifth Test in England, has been appointed as Iyer’s deputy.

Senior players KL Rahul and Siraj are set to join the team for the second multi day match, giving them some solid match practice before the home Test series against the West Indies and South Africa.

India’s home season kicks off with a two match Test series against the West Indies, starting with the first match in Ahmedabad on October 2.

The India A squad features Tamil Nadu’s wicketkeeper-batter N Jagadeesan, who was brought in as a backup for the fifth Test in England.

Jagadeesan made an impressive 197 runs off 352 balls, hitting 16 fours and 2 sixes, for South Zone in their Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone.

Tanush Kotian from Mumbai, who got his first Test call up during the Australia tour earlier this year.

He is also part of the India A team, joining two players from Vidarbha – Harsh Dubey and Yash Thakur.

The Australian A team consists of several Test players, with young batters Sam Konstas, who had an explosive debut against India last season, and Nathan McSweeney named for the tour.

These two batters were in competition for the second opening position for Australia during their Border-Gavaskar Trophy series victory over India.

The Australian A squad also features Test players Cooper Connolly and Todd Murphy.

India ‘A’ Squad:

Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhimanyu Easwaran, N Jagadeesan (wicketkeeper), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (vice-captain & wicketkeeper), Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Ayush Badoni, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, Yash Thakur.

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