India A will lock horns with South Africa A in the first unofficial Test match at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. Shreyas Iyer who had led India A on the tour of England in the tri-series will hold the captaincy reins for the two four day-games.
India A had gone on to win the tri-series against England A and Windies A. Thus, Iyer would look to repeat his magic in the red ball version. Meanwhile, India A had also won against Windies A in the unofficial Test match.
Meanwhile, India A had gone on to won their last match against South Africa when they toured the Rainbow nation last year. In fact, it has been even battle between the two sides in the last five matches, as both have won two matches each with one ending in a stalemate.
On the other hand, Yuzvendra Chahal is also included in the Indian A squad. Thus, the leg-spinner who has done a fine job in the limited overs format will look to impress with his performance in the longest format. Chahal will like to soon get his opportunity in the Indian Test squad.
Meanwhile, India A had faced an ignominious defeat of 253 runs in the last match against England Lions. Prithvi Shaw had scored a fine fifty in that match. Thus, the talented young opening batsman will look to keep impressing with his shot-making.
India A will like to make the most of their home conditions to push the visitors on the backfoot.
On the other hand, it is going to be a great learning experience for these two young sides to play against each other and gather the experience.
Khaya Zondo will like to lead from the front for South Africa A. Zondo had shown good technique while playing against Indian spinners when he played against the senior team. Thus, that will definitely come into the picture.
Date and Time: 3rd August 2018, 9:30 am IST.
Venue: M. Chinnaswamy Swamy Stadium.
India A Predicted XI: Prithvi Shaw, R Samarth, Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer (c), Hanuma Vihari, Ankit Bawne, KS Bharat (wk), Axar Patel, Rajneesh Gurbani, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.
South Africa A Predicted XI: HE van der Dussen, Sarel Erwee, Khaya Zondo (c), Pieter Malan, Zubayr Hamza, S Muthuswamy, R Second (wk), D Pretorius, DL Piedt, D Olivier, BE Hendricks.
Pitch Conditions: M. Chinnaswamy stadium has offered bit more help to the seamers in the recent past. However, the spinners will come into action as the match will progress.
Weather conditions: Bangalore’s sky is going to stay partly cloudy. However, they will not be rain threatening. The temperature is going to stay around 27-degree Celsius.