The squads named for India A’s five-match limited-overs series against South Africa A feature several cricketers capped at international level.

Test cricket seamer Shardul Thakur and World Cup leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal are among the squads – separated for the first three and final two matches.

Others capped at ODI or T20I level include captain Manish Pandey, all-rounder Krunal Pandya, spinners Axar Patel and Washington Sundar and left-arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed.

Batsman Shreyas Iyar will take over from Pandey as captain for the fourth and fifth matches. He was recently publicly earmarked for an extended stay in the ODI XI by India coach Ravi Shastri.

Iyar played in this month’s ODI series against the West Indies in the Caribbean and struck successive half-centuries in the middle order.

‘One of the areas we concentrated on over the last two years was to blood as many youngsters as possible. Shreyas, for instance, he is going to stay at No 4,’ said Shastri.

Former captain Sunil Gavaskar added: ‘If India get to a great start with Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma batting for 40 to 45 overs, then Rishabh Pant at No 4. But if it’s a question of batting for 30 to 35 overs, then I think it should be Shreyas at four and Pant at five.’

Thiruvananthapuram will host India A and South Africa A’s five fixtures from 29 August to 6 September 2019.

Squad for first three matches: Manish Pandey (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Anmolpreet Singh, Ricky Bhui, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Krunal Pandya, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Nitish Rana.

Squad for final two matches: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Shubman Gill, Prashant Chopra, Anmolpreet Singh, Ricky Bhui, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Nitish Rana, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Rahul Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Ishan Porel.

Photo: Gallo Images