Yash Dhull to captain India A in Emerging Teams Asia Cup

Yash Dhull, the Delhi batter who led India to the Under-19 World Cup title last year, will captain India A at the Men's Emerging Teams Asia Cup 50-overs tournament, which will be held in Sri Lanka from July 14 to 23. Dhull's deputy is the Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad allrounder Abhishek Sharma.

The tournament involves the A teams from the five Asian Full Member boards - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - as well as the senior teams of Nepal, Oman and UAE.

There is no age restriction on the players who can feature in this tournament, but India have named a squad with a distinctly youthful tinge, with all 15 players less than 23 years old. Four of the five standby players are Under-23s as well, with the Saurashtra wicketkeeper-batter Snell Patel the lone exception at 29. The squad, incidentally, was picked by India's junior selection committee chaired by former Karnataka keeper Thilak Naidu.

The main squad includes a number of players who impressed during IPL 2023, including top-order batter Sai Sudharsan - who scored 96 in the tournament final - keepers Prabhsimran Singh and Dhruv Jurel, and fast bowlers Harshit Rana and Akash Singh.

Former Saurashtra batter Sitanshu Kotak is the head coach of the side. He will be assisted by bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule and fielding coach Munish Bali.

India A will begin their campaign on July 13 when they face UAE at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.

India A squad: Yash Dhull (capt), Abhishek Sharma (vice-capt), Sai Sudharsan, Nikin Jose, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Riyan Parag, Nishant Sindhu, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Manav Suthar, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya, Harshit Rana, Akash Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rajvardhan Hangargekar. Standby players: Harsh Dubey, Nehal Wadhera, Snell Patel, Mohit Redkar