IND vs SA: Deepak Chahar, Ishan Kishan to join India A side for red-ball series

Indian pacer Deepak Chahar and wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan have been added to India A squad that will leave to South Africa to take part in three four-day matches beginning November 26. The duo featured in today's IND vs NZ third T20I in Kolkata and will link up with the squad shortly. 

"Yes, Deepak Chahar and Ishan Kishan have been drafted to the squad. They will finish the match in Kolkata and link up with the A-team before they leave for South Africa," a senior BCCI official aware of the development confirmed to PTI.

As per the BCCI official, Ishan Kishan has been sent because Chetan Sharma-led selection committee later realized they had picked only one wicketkeeper for India A tour of South Africa and wanted to add a back-up to Upendra Yadav. "They needed a second keeper and who is better than Ishan. He probably now would be the first keeper and rightly so," the official said.

Meanwhile, the selection committee has further drafted in Deepak Chahar, with sources in the BCCI informing the press that this is because the player hasn't played a lot of red-ball cricket and that they want him to get some match-time. "Chahar has not played a lot of red-ball cricket but with his ability to swing the ball, selectors want to keep him busy" the official added. 

India A squad will be led by Gujarat batter Priyank Panchal and boast the likes of IPL starlets Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Rahul Chahar, Navdeep Saini among many others. 

In terms of management, Shitanshu Kotak is the head coach of the side and will also serve as the batting coach with Sairaj Bahutule being appointed the bowling coach while T Ghosh and Vijay Yadav will continue as the fielding and wicketkeeping coaches respectively.

India A squad for three four-day matches against South Africa A

Priyank Panchal (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, B Aparajith, Upendra Yadav (wk), K Gowtham, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Umran Malik, Ishan Porel, Arzan Nagwaswalla, Ishan Kishan (wk), Deepak Chahar

(Image: BCCI/ AP)