No Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma as BCCI announces India A squad for Australia A one-day series

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has unveiled the India A squad for the three-match one-day series for India A vs Australia A series, which is scheduled to start on Tuesday, September 30 at Green Park in Kanpur.

For the first one-dayer, Madhya Pradesh and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Rajat Patidar will lead the squad while star players like Prabhsimran Singh, Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, and Ravi Bishnoi are also part of the squad.

For the second and third one-dayers, Tilak Varma will take up the captaincy role, with Patidar acting as his deputy. The squad will have the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana, and Arshdeep Singh among many other star players.

India A squad for the 1st one-day match: Rajat Patidar (c), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (wk), Priyansh Arya, Simarjeet Singh.

India A squad for 2nd and 3rd one-day: Tilak Varma (c), Rajat Patidar (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (wk), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh.

Interestingly, both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have decided not to take part in the three-match one-day series against Australia A. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra, the former Indian cricketer, felt the talismanic batters might have refused the selectors’ decision.

"Neither Rohit nor Kohli is playing. Of course, it's the India A matches against Australia A, and under normal circumstances, we would say it doesn't make a difference as Rohit and Kohli wouldn't play. However, if you see when was the last time they played competitive cricket, Kohli last played in the IPL final and Rohit Sharma played even before that," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

"I am sure the selectors would have asked them and they would have refused. Why am I saying that the selectors would have asked them? Considering the team that has been picked, it has even been tried to include the Asia Cup players, so that some form stays with them and they keep playing competitive games," he added.

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