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Shreyas Iyer, who is currently playing in the 2025 Duleep Trophy semifinal, is likely to lead the India A team for the upcoming two unofficial Test matches against Australia. According to Cricbuzz, Iyer will be touring with the India A team to Uttar Pradesh for the two red-ball matches.

 

Australia A will be touring India next week for two four-day red ball matches. The first match will be played from September 16-19 at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, and the second match will be played from September 23-26 on the same ground. Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium will host the next three unofficial ODIs from September 30 to October 5.

 

Earlier, during the 2025 Indian Premier League, Shreyas Iyer was not considered for the India A games as well against the England Lions in England, before the Anderson-Tendulkar Test series. He even missed the 2025 Asia Cup squad despite a stellar performance in the IPL for the Punjab Kings.

 

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Shreyas Iyer as India A captain

 

If the Cricbuzz reports are to be believed, Shreyas Iyer will be coming back to the India A team as a captain after 7 years. The last time Shreyas Iyer captained India A was during the 2018 series against South Africa A. Under his leadership, India A won the two-match unofficial Test series 1-0. The first match was a dominant victory by an innings and 30 runs, while the second match ended in a draw due to rain, securing the series win for India A.

 

In the second match, Iyer contributed significantly with the bat, scoring 65 runs off 103 balls, and shared a crucial 86-run partnership with Ankit Bawne, who remained unbeaten on 64. Their efforts helped India A reach 181/4 in their second innings, setting a challenging target for South Africa A

 

Following this series, Iyer continued to lead India A in the Quadrangular Series, which also featured Australia A and India B. In the third-place play-off, India A defeated South Africa A by 124 runs, with Iyer contributing 67 runs off 70 balls.

 

Reports are suggesting that BCCI has started considering the 30-year-old as a prominent face in the team. If not captaincy, Shreyas is likely to be important otherwise.

 

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Duleep Trophy best players to get chance in India A squad

 

Top performers from the ongoing Duleep Trophy matches in Bengaluru are likely to be considered for higher honors. All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy and experienced top-order batters like Abhimanyu Easwaran, a former India A captain, and B Sai Sudharsan are in contention.

 

Other strong candidates include Narayan Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Rajat Patidar. Jagadeesan, who replaced Rishabh Pant in India’s squad for the fifth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, scored 197 runs for South Zone against North Zone. Gaikwad top-scored for West Zone with 184 runs versus Central Zone.

 

Patidar contributed 125 and 66 in the quarterfinals and was batting 47 off 59 in the ongoing semifinal. Gaikwad and Jagadeesan are yet to make their Test debut, while Patidar has three red-ball appearances against England.

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