India captain Suryakumar Yadav originally wanted Tilak Varma, his Mumbai Indians (MI) teammate, to be on the team. Rajasthan Royals’ Riyan Parag was selected as the MI batter got injured, The Times of India reported.
“Parag is highly talented and has improved his attitude towards the game by several notches. He’s now looking to stay at the wicket. To add to his value, he can bowl decently, and is a terrific fielder to boot. The selectors want to nurture him for the future,” the source told TOI.
In 14 innings, Riyan scored 573 runs in IPL 2024. Tilak Varma, on the other hand, played in 13 matches and scored 416 runs.
Harshit Rana has been selected for the ODIs to prepare him for a specific role. The source told TOI that Rana’s ability to bowl yorkers, slower balls and other variations at the end of an innings made him a valuable option in white-ball cricket.
Arshdeep Singh for Australia tour
As per the same report, Indian selectors are now considering including Arshdeep Singh in the Test team even though he has experience only in limited-overs cricket.
Arshdeep’s performance during India’s T20 World Cup victory has impressed the selectors. It has led to discussions about his potential inclusion in the Test squad for the upcoming Australia tour.
In the T20 World Cup 2024, Arshdeep finished as the leading wicket-taker with 17 wickets. Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi also had 17 wickets. They became joint winners of the top spot.
The source told TOI that Arshdeep could be asked to play in a few domestic red-ball games, starting with the Duleep Trophy on September 5, to improve his chances for the Australia tour. The selectors see him potentially as a key player, along with Jasprit Bumrah, in Australia.
The selectors want another left-arm pace option for the white-ball side, which is why Khaleel Ahmed toured Zimbabwe and was chosen for both ODIs and T20Is in Sri Lanka, the publication added.