Ruturaj Gaikwad has been added to the India A squad, which will be touring down south to lock horns with hosts Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A in a tri-series
Published: May 31, 2026, 7:00 PM IST
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Chennai Super Kings’ captain Ruturaj Gaikwad plays a shot during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday, May 18, 2026. (Photo: IANS)
Right-hand top-order batter Ruturaj Gaikwad has been added to the India A squad, which will be touring down south to lock horns with hosts Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A in a tri-series, starting from June 9. The boys in blue will take on the Lankans in their opening match at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
The tri-series will be played in the one-day format with the Indian A team consisting of some really talented youngsters. After initially being ignored by the selectors, Ruturaj Gaikwad was called-up as an injury replacement for Riyan Parag who has teared his hamstring and will begin his rehabilitation under the supervision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
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Parag, who captained the Rajasthan Royals through to a 4th place finish in the league stages, had missed a couple of Indian Premier League 2026 games due to the same reason. The right-hand batter scored 309 runs in 14 matches, including two half-centuries but failed to make an impact when his side needed him the most in Qualifier 2 against Gujarat Titans.
His replacement Ruturaj Gaikwad had an equally underwhelming IPL 2026 season both team wise and individually. The Chennai Super Kings captain scored just 337 runs in 14 outings which directly impacted CSK’s performance as the 5-time champions finished 8th in the standings.
It is unclear whether Gaikwad will captain CSK next season and beyond with all-rounder Hardik Pandya emerging as the potential option to replace him. Pandya has reportedly fallen out of favor in the Mumbai Indians camp with the Indian international keen on finding a new franchise before next season.
Ruturaj Gaikwad named vice-captain
Ruturaj Gaikwad has also been named vice-captain of the India A team which will be captained by Tilak Varma. It will be a crucial tri-series for Gaikwad who wouldn’t to miss out on impressing the Indian team management in the build-up to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027.
The 29-year-old has played 9 ODIs and 23 T20Is, scoring 228 and 633 runs respectively. His last appearance for the senior national team came in 2025 against South Africa in an ODI match.
Updated India A squad for tri-series against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan
Tilak Varma (Captain), Priyansh Arya, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ruturaj Gaikwad (Vice-Captain), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Harsh Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Kumar Kushagra (WK), Vipraj Nigam, Yash Thakur, Yudhvir Singh, Anshul Kamboj, Arshad Khan.
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