India A include Ayush Badoni for Rising Stars Asia Cup after Rajat Patidar opts out

Rajat Patidar has opted out of the upcoming Rising Stars Asia Cup one-day tournament, informing the BCCI that he “should not be considered for selection in the 50-over format as he manages his existing injuries”. Ayush Badoni has been added to the India A squad in Patidar’s place.

With Patidar opting out, Rinku Singh has been named deputy to captain Tilak Varma for the tournament running from November 19 to November 29 in Doha, Qatar.

Badoni has most recently been in action for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy first-class tournament, where he has been in excellent form, hitting back-to-back double-centuries against Gujarat and against Jharkhand. Badoni is currently the second highest run-scorer in the competition with 559 runs from six innings.

Patidar, meanwhile, has played three Ranji Trophy games for Madhya Pradesh this season and scored two centuries in them. Prior to that, he had scored two half-centuries in three appearances for India A in the 50-over series at home against Australia A in October.

The tournament will mark Harshit Rana’s return to action as part of the star-studded India A side. Rana, the 24-year-old fast-bowling allrounder, has not played any cricket since July when he was with the senior team on the tour of England.

Several T20 specialists including Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Prabhsimran Singh and Rinku are part of the squad. Tilak and Kumar Kushagra, who are currently in New Zealand with the India A red-ball team, will link up with the squad at the end of that tour.

Rana will be part of a fast-bowling attack that also includes Prince Yadav, Arshad Khan and allrounder Suryansh Shedge, with a strong spin-bowling unit featuring Harsh Dubey, Vipraj Nigam, Shahbaz Ahmed and Tanush Kotian.

India A are in Group B along with UAE, Nepal and Pakistan A. Group A has Bangladesh A, Sri Lanka A, Afghanistan A and Hong Kong, China. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals, scheduled for November 26 and 27. The final will take place on November 29. India A will face Pakistan A on November 22.

India A squad for Rising Stars Asia Cup

Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Tilak Varma (capt), Rinku Singh (vice-capt), Kumar Kushagra (wk), Suryansh Shedge, Shahbaz Ahmed, Vipraj Nigam, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav, Arshad Khan, Ayush Badoni.

Source: www.cricinfo.com