Nagpur, Aug 19
Vidarbha stumper Akshay Wadkar has been included in India 'A' team for three four-day matches against touring New Zealand in Sepember. New Zealand's upcoming India tour consists of three four-day matches and as many one-day matches. All matches will be hosted across Bengaluru and Chennai.
The India 'A' team for four-day matches includes Shubman Gill (C), Yash Dubey, Hanuma Vihari, Rajat Patidar, Sarfraz Khan, Washington Sundar, KS Bharat, Shams Muani, Jalaj Saxena, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Yashwasi Jaiswal, Sbhubam Sharma, Akshay Wadkar, Shahbaz Ahmed and Manisankar Murasingh.
Speaking with Lokmat Times over his selection 28-year-old Wadkar who so far has played 34 first-class matches and has scored 2065 runs consisting seven hundreds and eight half-centuries said, “ I had expected my selection in India 'A' team since I have performed well in Ranji Trophy this year. Now I got a good opportunity to prove myself. India 'A' selection is always considered as the next step towards selection in the senior team”, he said.
This season Wadkar scored two unbeaten centuries against Maharashtra (146) and Uttar Pradesh (102) in Ranji Trophy. That performance helped him to earn a place in India 'A' team that will play three four-day matches i.e. (Sept 1 to 4), Sept 8 to 11 and Sept 15 to 18 against New Zealand at Bengaluru.