Despite being out of India’s limited-overs squad, premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has got some ray of hope from the national selection committee as he has been named as the captain of the India ‘A’ team for the Deodhar Trophy, scheduled to be held in Dharamsala from March 4-8.

Shreyas Iyer will be leading India ‘B’ team while the third team in the tournament are Vijay Hazare Champions Karnataka, who will play under the leadership of Karun Nair. Ashwin is one of the most notable inclusions in Deodhar Trophy as most others are performers in the just-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy, apart from him.

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Among the victorious U-19 World Cup team, Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw have been included in the India A side. With finger spinners not in priority at the moment, Ashwin’s performance in the Deodhar Trophy will surely be closely monitored despite the fact that his chances of making a comeback in the ODI squad are pretty narrow. 

The selectors also included Indian pacer Umesh Yadav, who didn’t get a single game during India’s tour of South Africa. Having dropped from the squad due to the consistent performances of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Shardul Thakur, Umesh has a golden opportunity to prove his worth during the tournament. Mohammed Shami has also been included.

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Meanwhile, the selectors also picked up Rest of India team which will take on Vidarbha in the Irani Cup in Nagpur from March 14-18. Karun Nair, despite his inconsistent form, has been named the skipper and the team also has young Shaw, Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, Delhi pacer Navdeep Saini among others.

However, the two fast bowlers Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi have not been picked. in any of the three squads.

Squads for Deodhar and Irani trophy

India A: Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Prithvi Shaw, Unmukt Chand, Akshdeep Nath, Shubman Gill, Ricky Bhui, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Krunal Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep saini, Basil Thampi, Kulwant Khejroliya, Rohit Rayudu.

India B: Shreyas Iyer (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ankit Bawne, Manoj Tiwary, Siddhesh Lad, Kona Bharat (wk), Jayant Yadav, Dharmedra jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, Siddarth kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Umesh Yadav, Rajat Patidar.

Rest of India: Karun Nair (c), Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, R Samarth, Mayank Agarwal,, Hanuma Vihari, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, Anmolpreet Singh, Siddarth Kaul, Ankit Rajpoot, Navdeep Saini, Atit Sheth.