Spotlight on Panth, Kishan as India A face England

Promising batsman Rishab Panth and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan will look to impressing the selectors when India A take on England in the second warm-up match at the Brabourne stadium here on Thursday.

Panth, who played an important role in India's runners-up campaign at the U-19 World Cup in 2016, has made rapid strides to be selected selected in the T20 squad for the England series.

The 19-year-old Delhi batsman recently slammed four centuries in his first full Ranji season -- including a triple hundred against Maharashtra and a 48-ball ton against Jharkhand.

The spotlight will also be shared by another promising player Kishan.

The Jharkhand player led India at the Under-19 World Cup in 2016 in Bangladesh where they lost to the West Indies in the final. He has produced some fine knocks in the domestic circuit which caught the attention of the selectors.

Among others, focus will also be on veteran Suresh Raina, who is making a comeback after a long hiatus and all-rounders Parvez Rasool, Vinay Kumar. All three players will be aiming to hit the right note ahead of the England series.

The bowling department will also be looking to make an impact in the match as the entire line-up, which failed to perform in the first practice match failing to defend a target of 305 runs, has been changed.

The bowling unit will be spearheaded by experienced pacer Ashoke Dinda and Kumar along with Pradeep Sangwan and off-spinner Rasool.

For England, everything went good in the first practice game, which they won by three wickets in Mumbai.

They are likely to try out some bowling combinations with an eye for another morale-boosting win ahead a three match One-Day International series against India, beginning on Sunday in Pune.

The teams:

India A: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Rishabh Pant, Suresh Raina, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Sheldon Jackson, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem, Parvez Rasool, Vinay Kumar, Pradeep Sangwan, Ashoke Dinda.

England: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey and Chris Woakes.

--IANS

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