5 players who missed out on India's A squad for South Africa tour

The BCCI has announced the India A squad for the tour of South Africa which includes a one-day Tri-series and two four-day games.

The tour commences next month and will feature high-quality players such as Manish Pandey, Axar Patel and Karun Nair who are competing for a spot in India’s national team. The selectors have also included young players like Mohammad Siraj, Priyank Panchal, Krunal Pandya and Basil Thampi in the team as a reward for their impressive performances in the IPL and domestic tournaments.

However, there are a few cricketers who performed exceptionally well in the domestic tournaments but still failed to grab the attention of the selectors.

We look at five players who missed out on selection.

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#5 K Gowtham

Making a comeback after three years, K Gowtham made a strong impact in the 2016-2017 Ranji season. In eight games, he grabbed 27 wickets and followed it up with five wickets in the inter-state T20 tournament.

The off-spinner bowls tidy lengths and hence batsmen find him difficult to hit. Moreover, his subtle pace variations and ability to extract turn from all surfaces makes him lethal. Sensing his effectiveness in the shorter format of the game, Mumbai Indians bought him for a staggering Rs. 2 crores at the 2017 IPL auction. However, the availability of more experienced spinners in Mumbai’s camp ensured Gowtham didn’t feature in a single game in IPL 2017.

For the tour of South Africa, the selectors have picked only one off-spinner in the squad in the form of Jayant Yadav. Thus, Gowtham could have easily slotted into the team as Jayant's backup.

#4 Baba Aparajith

Aparajith captained India in the U-23 Emerging Players tournament earlier this year

Baba Aparajith played a crucial role in India’s U-19 World Cup triumph in 2012. He scored 171 runs in the tournament, picked five wickets and also bagged the Man of the Match award in the quarter-final and semi-final games.

The all-rounder has performed consistently in domestic cricket and currently averages 36.61 with the bat. He has also amassed 36 wickets in 55 first-class innings. The Tamil Nadu cricketer has featured frequently in India A teams in the past and has delivered some memorable performances, including a five-wicket haul against Australia A at Chennai in 2015.

Aparajith also captained India in the U-23 Emerging Players tournament earlier this year.

However, it seems that the selectors have decided to consider other players for the upcoming tour of South Africa. Players like Krunal Pandya and Priyank Panchal had a bigger impact in this year’s domestic tournaments and this may have resulted in Aparajith’s omission from the India A team.

#3 Nitish Rana

Nitish Rana starred for the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2017

At one stage in IPL 2017, Nitish Rana was single-handedly winning games for Mumbai Indians and in a batting line-up that consisted of Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Parthiv Patel and Jos Buttler, the 23-year-old batsman was the leading run-scorer.

Although his runs dried up at the latter stages of the tournament, Rana finished the 2017 IPL season as Mumbai’s third highest run-getter with 333 runs at an average of 30.27.

The left-hand batsman has also been a prolific run-scorer in the Ranji circuit in the last few years. He made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2015-16 and ended the season as Delhi’s highest run scorer with 557 runs. In the same year, he slammed 21 sixes, the most by any batsman in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India’s interstate T-20 tournament.

After watching Rana's spectacular performance in the IPL, even Ricky Ponting felt that he would soon play at a higher level. As quoted by cricket.com.au, the former Australian captain said, “He’s got a very good domestic record in one-day and four-day cricket. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in an Indian T20 squad.”

However, it seems Rana is yet to grab the attention of the selectors. The emergence of Karun Nair, Ankit Bawne and Krunal Pandya probably resulted in his omission from the A team.

#2 Chama Milind

Milind led India’s pace attack in the 2014 U-19 World Cup

A product of India’s U-19 system, Chama Milind has impressed one and all with his all-round abilities. He bowls medium pace and has the skill to move the ball in both directions aside from bowling decent yorkers at the death. With the bat, he is a reliable middle-order batsman and has the ability to play long innings.

He led India’s pace attack in the 2014 U-19 World Cup and claimed 17 wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2014-15. In the 2016-17 Ranji season, the 22-year-old scored 316 runs at an average of 35.11 and also picked up 35 wickets.

This year he spearheaded Hyderabad’s bowling attack and also contributed significantly with the bat. This all-round performance should have earned him a place in the India A squad but the presence of Vijay Shankar forced the selectors to neglect him.

#1 Ishank Jaggi

Jaggi averaged over 55 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy

Ishank Jaggi had a dream run in 2016-17. The right-hander amassed 890 runs in last year’s Ranji season, the highest ever by a Jharkhand batsman, and was a vital cog in the team that reached the semi-finals of the tournament.

In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, BCCI’s inter-state 50 over tournament, he piled on 279 runs at an impressive average of 55.80. As a recognition of his staggering performances in the domestic tournament, the 28-year-old was included in the India A team for the Deodhar Trophy earlier this year.

However, the team that will tour South Africa next month has a pretty stacked batting department with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Sudip Chatterjee, and Ankit Bawne. Hence, the selectors decided to overlook Jaggi for this tour.