Pakistan will get a taste of 14-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who has been named in the squad for the forthcoming Rising Stars Asia Cup, scheduled to be played in Doha on November 14.
The team was revealed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday morning. Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, who is presently in Australia with the main squad for the ongoing five-match T20I series, will captain the side.
India A are placed in Group B alongside Oman, UAE, and Pakistan A for the forthcoming competition. The highly awaited match between India A and Pakistan A will take place on Sunday, November 16, while the tournament final is set for November 23.
Bangladesh A, Afghanistan A, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka A are clubbed in Group A.
Additionally deserving of a call-up is Priyansh Arya, who had a breakout season for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. Nehal Wadhera, Ramandeep Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, and Abhisek Porel are also in the team. Each of these names have established themselves in the IPL.
For the event, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan will send their A teams, while the remaining three teams — UAE, Oman, and Hong Kong — who are yet to attain a Test playing status will submit their full-strength squads for the competition.
India A's will kick-off the tournament against UAE, scheduled for November 14, and their final league stage match is scheduled for November 18 against Oman.
Tanush Kotian and Gurnoor Singh Brar are among the five standby players for the competition.
The senior Men's Asia Cup, held earlier this year, witnessed great drama as cricket took a backstage. Rising geo-political tension between India and Pakistan was clearly at forefront after the Indian team refused to shake hands with Pakistan players. Then, the team lead by Suryakumar Yadav also refused to collect the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi, who also is the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and an interior minister in the country.
All eyes will once again be on the conduct of Naqvi, as he continues to occupy the all-important position in the ACC.
Afghanistan enter the competition as the reigning champion. They defeated Sri Lanka A in the final of the previous edition, which was after beating India A-led by Tilak Varma in the semifinals. The previous edition was played at Oman's Al Emerat Stadium in October 2024.
The Indian squad at the time included Anshul Kamboj, Rahul Chahar, Prabhsimran Singh, Sai Kishore, and Abhishek Sharma in addition to Tilak.
India A’s squad for Rising Stars Asia Cup: Priyansh Arya, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Nehal Wadhera, Naman Dhir (VC), Suryansh Shedge, Jitesh Sharma (C) (WK), Ramandeep Singh, Harsh Dubey, Ashutosh Sharma, Yash Thakur, Gurjapneet Singh, Vijay Kumar Vyshak, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Abhisek Porel (WK), Suyash Sharma
Standby players: Gurnoor Singh Brar, Kumar Kushagra, Tanush Kotian, Sameer Rizvi and Shaik Rasheed
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