Vidarbha’s Dubey, Thakur, Mokhade in India ‘A’ squad for Lanka tour

Nagpur: A bunch of Vidarbha cricketers have been knocking on the doors of national selectors with their consistent performances over the last few seasons. Three of them — Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur and Aman Mokhade — have been selected in the India ‘A' squad for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee announced the 14-member squad on Saturday for two four-day matches against Sri Lanka ‘A' scheduled to be played in Galle from June 25 to July 5. The team will be led by Dhruv Jurel while Devdutt Padikkal has been named vice-captain for the red-ball assignment.Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) officials said that this is perhaps for the first time that three Vidarbha players have been named in the India ‘A' squad. "Finally, our players are getting the chances they deserve," an official said. After a record-breaking Ranji Trophy season in 2024-25, spinner-all-rounder Dubey has been on the radar of the national selectors. An impressive outing for SRH in the recently concluded IPL helped Dubey make the cut for the India team for the one-off Test against Afghanistan that began on Saturday. Though Dubey wasn't included in the playing XI, sources say that he is sure to get more chances in the near future. Like Dubey, medium pacer Yash Thakur has been performing consistently over the last few seasons. He impressed in the IPL with his pace, variation and the ability to bowl bouncers. While both Dubey and Thakur have been part of India ‘A' squad in the past, Mokhade has made the cut for the first time. The right-hand opener was in red-hot form in last season's Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. Mokhade played a key role in Vidarbha's maiden Vijay Hazare triumph. Finishing as the tournament's leading run-scorer with 814 runs at an incredible average of 90.44, Mokhade scored a record-equalling five centuries. In the last edition of the Ranji Trophy, Mokhade piled up over 500 runs. INDIA ‘A' SQUAD Dhruv Jurel (C & WK), Devdutt Padikkal (VC), Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur, Aman Mokhade, Sai Sudharsan, Ayush Pandey, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Saransh Jain, Gurnoor Brar, Auqib Nabi, Anshul Kamboj, N Jagadeesan (WK), Shaik Rasheed and Zeeshan Ansari