Rinku Singh added to India A squad for 2nd four-day match against England Lions

A day after playing his Ranji Trophy match for Uttar Pradesh, southpaw Rinku Singh has been added to India A squad which will play their second four-day match against England Lions, starting from Wednesday. Earlier Rinku was in the India A squad for the third four-day game against Lions.

“The Men’s Selection Committee has added Rinku Singh to India ‘A’ squad for the second four-day match against England Lions to be played in Ahmedabad from January 24,” the board said in a release.

Rinku was recently with the India Test squad in South Africa as a reserve player. He has played 43 first-class matches so far, scoring 3099 runs at an average of 58.47.

Rinku was earlier included in India A squad in South Africa as well and was stepped out in the field as a substitute in the Indian dugout during the first Test in Centurion.

Will Rinku be fast-tracked into Test team?

With Virat Kohli pulling out of the first two games citing personal reasons. The selectors might be looking for a replacement in the middle order. Rinku with his T20 splash has already made a name for himself. His first-class numbers are equally good and being a lef-handed, who bats at five or six for his state team, gives the Aligarh lad an upper hand.

However, the selection committee is yet to name a replacement and as per the reports, two heavyweight India ‘A’ performers — Rajat Patidar of Madhya Pradesh and Sarfaraz Khan of Mumbai — are frontrunners to replace Kohli.

If a fresh face is needed, the recent form could point towards Madhya Pradesh’s Rajat Patidar. He has already made his white-ball debut for India and is coming off a 151 for India A in the game against England Lions. Just before that, Patidar had hit 111 in a two-day warm-up fixture against the same opponents. The 30-year-old has domestic pedigree and played a key role in his state team winning the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy, where he hit a hundred in the final against Mumbai.

Mumbai batsman Sarfaraz Khan’s name is never far from the reckoning during selection meetings. His proficiency against pace and bounce is a question mark, but his ability against spin could be useful in the middle order on turning tracks.

Veteran Cheteshwar Pujara continues to churn out runs in first-class cricket and could be an option if the selectors eye someone tried and trusted.

India ‘A’ squad for the 2nd multi-day match: Abhimanyu Easwaran (Captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Varma, Kumar Kushagra, Washington Sundar, Sourabh Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Vidwath Kaverappa, Upendra Yadav, Akash Deep, Yash Dayal, Rinku Singh

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.