Fringe players will have a chance to prove their mettle when the Manoj Tiwary-led India A take on Sri Lanka in the only one-day warm up match, which will mark the beginning of the hastily scheduled ODI series, here on Thursday.
The tour game, at the Cricket Club of India’s Brabourne Stadium, also provides Rohit Sharma, recovering from a fractured finger and shoulder injury, a chance to prove his fitness and get back into the side for the last two games of the best-of-five ODI series against the visitors.
In the opening slot, Mahrashtra’s Kedar Jadhav, a hard-hitting middle-order batsman, can show himself as a good back-up option with the World Cup only a few months away.
Delhi’s Unmukt Chand would also be itching to show his worth after having scored an unbeaten 79 and 101 against West Indies in the two warm-up matches played earlier this month.
Among all-rounders, Karnataka’s Stuart Binny and Jammu and Kashmir’s Parveez Rasool will strive to again get a look in the limited-over side. With Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in need of a bowling all-rounder, the selectors under Sandeep Patil’s chairmanship, will be keenly following the duo’s performance.
The match is also a good platform for youngsters — Karnataka’s Manish Pandey and UP’s ‘Chinaman’ bowler Kuldeep Yadav who earned the maiden call-up against the West Indies in the T20 and ODIs — to showcase their talent and force their way into national squad.
