India A Squads Named For Australia A Series In Puducherry

The BCCI has named two India A squads for Australia A, with all five matches set for Puducherry. Devdutt Padikkal captains the multi-day side. Ruturaj Gaikwad leads the one-day team. Hardik Pandya is in the one-day squad subject to fitness clearance. The block runs from 22 September to 11 October.

Puducherry takes the full block

The series is two multi-day matches and three one-day games. The first multi-day match runs from 22 to 25 September. The second follows from 29 September to 2 October. The one-day matches are on 6, 9 and 11 October. Every fixture is in Puducherry.

The fitness clause on Pandya

Pandya's selection is conditional. The BCCI listed him as subject to fitness clearance, and the seamer V Vyshak carries the same condition in the multi-day squad. The ICC reports that Pandya has not played since June, when he suffered a leg strain before India's Afghanistan series, and that he also missed part of IPL 2026 with back spasms.

The ICC puts his ODI record at 1,904 runs and 91 wickets in 94 matches. The next 50 over World Cup is in 2027, in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Four leadership roles, three players

Padikkal captains the multi-day squad and is vice-captain in the one-day side. Sai Sudharsan is his deputy in the longer format. Gaikwad's only role is the one-day captaincy. Two wicketkeepers travel in each squad. Three players are named in both.

The two squads in full

India A one-day squad

• Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain)
• Devdutt Padikkal (vice-captain)
• Priyansh Arya
• Sai Sudharsan
• Rajat Patidar
• Kumar Kushagra (wicketkeeper)
• Prabhsimran Singh (wicketkeeper)
• Nishant Sindhu
• Vipraj Nigam
• Arshin Kulkarni
• Arshad Khan
• Naman Dhir
• Gurjapneet Singh
• Yash Thakur
• Hardik Pandya (subject to fitness clearance)

India A multi-day squad

• Devdutt Padikkal (captain)
• Sai Sudharsan (vice-captain)
• Aman Mokhade
• Ayush Pandey
• Yash Rathod
• Shaik Rasheed
• Kumar Kushagra (wicketkeeper)
• N Jagadeesan (wicketkeeper)
• Shams Mulani
• Tanush Kotian
• Tushar Deshpande
• Anshul Kamboj
• Praful Hinge
• Nachiket Bhute
• V Vyshak (subject to fitness clearance)