Published: Feb 17, 2017, 08:31 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 17, 2017, 04:57 PM (IST)
Hello, good morning and welcome to CricketCountry’s live cricket blog and updates’ post for the first day’s play in the tour match between Australia and India A. The three-day tour match is being played at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, and it is the only tour match which Australia will be playing before the start of their four-match Test series against India. The Australian cricket team arrived in Mumbai after their preparatory camp in India which was held at the ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai, and will be heading to Pune after the conclusion of their tour match which is against a very strong Indian A side.
Hardik Pandya will be the captain of the India A side which has the likes of Priyank Kirit Panchal, Shahbaz Nadeem, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Navdeep Saini and Ashok Dinda who are some of the big names in the India A side. While Priyank Panchal scored most runs by any batsman in the previous edition of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17, Shahbaz Nadeem emerged as one of the best bowlers in the Indian domestic circuit as he claimed as many as 56 wickets in the tournament. The visitors are certain to get rich match practise ahead of their Test series against India. India A vs Australia tour match: Warner vs Nadeem, Pant vs Hazlewood and other key battles
On the other hand, Australia have carried a mixed squad to their India tour for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2016-17. David Warner and Steven Smith will be holding responsibilities in the batting department, whereas Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will be the lead pacers. Australia have carried as many as four spinners to this tour, which includes Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe, Ashton Agar and Mitchell Swepson. Preview: Visitors face domestic Indian stars
The first Test of the tour will be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, from February 23-27. The second Test will be at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru from March 4-8. The third will be at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi from March 16-20, whereas the fourth and the last Test will be at the picturesque stadium in Dharamsala, from March 25-29, 2017.
Squads:
India A: Hardik Pandya (c), Akhil Herwadkar, Priyank Kirit Panchal, Shreyas Iyer, Ankit Bawne, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shahbaz Nadeem, Krishnappa Gowtham, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Ashok Dinda, Mohammed Siraj, Rahul Singh, Baba Indrajith
Australia: Steven Smith (c), David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Wade (wk), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird, Nathan Lyon, Stephen O’Keefe, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson.
