Tilak Varma to captain India A at Rising Stars Asia Cup in Doha, Sooryavanshi picked

Tilak Varma will captain India A at the Rising Stars Asia Cup in Doha, the BCCI said on Monday evening, as the selectors named a 15-man squad for the tournament in Qatar from 19 to 29 November.

Rajat Patidar is vice-captain. The squad mixes players fresh from the senior side with names from the domestic season, and the headline pick is opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who made 45 off 19 balls in his only game of the T20 series against New Zealand. Abhishek Sharma comes in after a strong series against the same opponents, and Harshit Rana is also back in the frame.

Several of those picked were in Ranji Trophy action on Monday. Vidarbha spinner Harsh Dubey took 9 for 53 against Madhya Pradesh in Nagpur, while Tanush Kotian and Suryansh Shedge were in the Mumbai side playing Railways in Mumbai.

The full squad: Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Prabhsimran Singh (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma (captain), Rajat Patidar (vice-captain), Rinku Singh, Kumar Kushagra (wicketkeeper), Suryansh Shedge, Shahbaz Ahmed, Vipraj Nigam, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav and Arshad Khan.

India A are in Group B with Pakistan A, Nepal and the UAE. They open against Nepal on 20 November and meet Pakistan A on 22 November, both at the West End Park International Stadium, before playing the UAE at the University of Doha for Science & Technology on 24 November.

Group A has Bangladesh A, Sri Lanka A, Afghanistan A, Hong Kong and China. The top two from each group go through to the semi-finals on 26 and 27 November, and the final is on Sunday, 29 November.