India A vs Australia A: Sai Sudharsan to open, off-spinner Kotian in focus

A fit-again Sai Sudharsan will once again open the innings for India A with an aim of clinching the reserve opener’s slot for the tour of New Zealand when hosts take on Australia A in the opening four-day first-class game starting Tuesday.

For Australia A, a number of Test team hopefuls are on the tour, including openers Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, spinner Todd Murphy and pacer Jhye Richardson.

Sudharsan, who batted at No. 3 in his seven Test appearances for India, had opened during India A’s tour of Sri Lanka, where he scored 132 and 168 in the two first-class matches against Sri Lanka ‘A’ before missing the Test series due to a fractured foot that required extensive six weeks of rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

Devdutt Padikkal, who is captaining the India A team, has now cemented his place in the Test squad as a one-down batter with two hundreds in the last series in Sri Lanka. Hence, Sudharsan, who had started opening from the last ‘A’ series, will like to start off against Australia A from where he left in the preceding series versus Sri Lanka A. Apart from Sudharsan, other opener vying for that reserve slot is Aman Mokhade, who failed to convert his starts in Sri Lanka.