Chairman of the national selection committee, MSK Prasad, has asked for those on the India A tour to New Zealand to be rested for the Ranji Trophy by their respective state associations. Prasad has written to the board’s general manager cricket operations, Saba Karim, in this regard. The India A team is scheduled to travel to New Zealand for three four-day games this month.
The first of those matches is being looked at as a warm-up for some in the Test squad bound for Australia like Rohit Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane and Parthiv Patel. The squad also includes a number of fast bowlers including those who have been on the fringes of late. They include Hyderabad’s Mohammad Siraj, Delhi’s Navdeep Saini, Vidarbha’s Rajneesh Gurbani and Rajasthan’s Deepak Chahar.
“I would like to bring to your notice that we have picked MD Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Gurbani & Deepak Chahar for India A series to NZ. Considering the workload that they had in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare & Deodhar Trophy and also their upcoming A tour which they are embarking on 9th November, I request you to kindly inform their respective state Associations to exempt them from playing their first Ranji game starting from 1st to 4th November game to keep them fit & fresh for the A tour,” MSK Prasad wrote in his email to Saba Karim and assistant general manager Gaurav Saxena.
