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Tilak Varma has been named captain of the India ‘A’ team for the upcoming 50-over tri-series in Sri Lanka, with exciting young batters Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Priyansh Arya earning places in the squad announced by the senior men’s selection committee on Thursday.
The tri-series, scheduled from June 9 to 21 in Dambulla, will also feature Sri Lanka ‘A’ and Afghanistan ‘A’. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed that India ‘A’ will also play two multi-day matches against Sri Lanka ‘A’ in Galle after the one-day series. The squad for those red-ball fixtures will be announced later.
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This is the first India ‘A’ call-up for Sooryavanshi, who has enjoyed a remarkable rise over the last year. Earlier this season, the left-handed opener starred in India’s Under-19 World Cup triumph, winning both Player of the Final and Player of the Tournament awards.
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The teenager has also been in sensational form in IPL 2026 for Rajasthan Royals, scoring 440 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 236.56. Arya too has impressed with his aggressive batting for Punjab Kings this season. The left-hander has scored 342 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 226.49.
Tilak has previous experience leading India ‘A’. He captained the side in the ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup in 2024 and also led the team during the one-day series against South Africa ‘A’ later that year.
Riyan Parag has been named vice-captain of the squad, which also features Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Harsh Dubey and Vipraj Nigam.
Prabhsimran Singh and Kumar Kushagra will handle wicketkeeping duties, while the pace attack includes Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur, Yudhvir Singh, Anshul Kamboj and Arshad Khan. Kamboj heads into the tournament after a strong IPL season in which he picked up 19 wickets.
India ‘A’ will open their campaign against Sri Lanka ‘A’ on June 9 before facing Afghanistan ‘A’ on June 11. The round-robin stage will continue until June 19, with the final set to be played on June 21.
India A squad: Tilak Varma (captain), Priyansh Arya, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Riyan Parag (vice-captain), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Harsh Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Kumar Kushagra (wk), Vipraj Nigam, Yash Thakur, Yudhvir Singh, Anshul Kamboj, and Arshad Khan.
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