Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has raised eyebrows over Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion from the India A one-day squad that will play three matches against Australia A. While Iyer will lead the red-ball side in two multi-day fixtures, his absence from the one-day squad has sparked speculation about a possible call-up to India’s Test team for the upcoming West Indies series.

Iyer’s case has been in the spotlight in recent weeks. After being left out of India’s Asia Cup squad, he was handed the captaincy of the India A red-ball team. The multi-day series against Australia A concludes just days before the one-day matches, lending weight to Chopra’s theory that the middle-order batter might be included in the Test squad.

“Shreyas Iyer’s name isn’t there in this team. He is playing and doing captaincy in the multi-day matches but isn’t there here. Is he going to be a part of the Test team? I am just trying to read between the lines,” Aakash Chopra noted on his YouTube channel.

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Chopra further hinted that Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh are unlikely to feature in the senior squad, while Iyer could be a certainty. He also expressed that senior pros Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma ideally should have played for India A, at least to gain match practice.

“Neither Rohit nor Kohli is playing. Normally, you’d say it doesn’t matter as they wouldn’t feature in India A matches. But when was the last time they played competitive cricket? Kohli played the IPL final and Rohit even before that. I’m sure the selectors must have asked, but they probably refused,” Aakash Chopra added.

India A will play three one-dayers against Australia A in Kanpur from September 30 to October 5, with the red-ball contests wrapping up four days earlier.

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India A squad for the 1st one-day match: Rajat Patidar (Captain), Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (WK), Priyansh Arya, Simarjeet Singh.

India A squad for 2nd and 3rd one-day: Tilak Varma (Captain), Rajat Patidar (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (WK), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh.