NEW DELHI: Shreyas Iyer has been appointed captain of the India A team for the two unofficial four-day Tests against Australia in Lucknow. The matches are scheduled from September 16–19 and September 23-26 at the Ekana Stadium.

Iyer, who missed out on selection for the upcoming Asia Cup, is currently featuring for West Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal against Central Zone in Bengaluru.

Wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who made his Test debut in England earlier this year at The Oval, will serve as Iyer's deputy.

Meanwhile, KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj - both not part of the Asia Cup squad - will join the India A side for the second four-day game starting September 23. Their inclusion is aimed at giving them valuable match practice ahead of the home Test series against the West Indies, beginning October 2.

The multi-day matches will be followed by three one-day games, scheduled to take place on September 30, 2025, October 03, 2025 and October 05, 2025 respectively in Kanpur.

Karun Nair, who had suffered an injury while batting in the fifth and final Test at The Oval against England and had also missed the Maharaja Trophy (KSCA T20 tournament), has not been named in the side.

The India A squad includes Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter N Jagadeesan, who was called up as a cover for the fifth Test in England.

Jagadeesan scored a brilliant 197 (352 balls, 16 fours and 2 sixes) for South Zone in their Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone.

Mumbai's Tanush Kotian, who had received a maiden Test call up during the tour of Australia earlier this year, also finds a place in the India A side along with two players from Vidarbha -- Harsh Dubey and Yash Thakur.

Dubey had set the record for most wickets for any bowler in the history of the Ranji Trophy last season when he took 69 wickets for Vidarbha in their title-winning run.

Among batters, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal have been named along with Delhi skipper Ayush Badoni, who received his maiden call-up, while India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has also been named in the A side.

The fast bowling line-up includes India pacers Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Thakur and Punjab’s lanky pacer Gurnoor Brar, who has also been a regular nets bowler for the national side.

Dubey, Kotian and Rajasthan's Manav Suthar are among the spinners.

The Australian A squad includes several Test players from the country as young batters Sam Konstas, who had a fiery debut against India last season, has been named along with Nathan McSweeney for the tour.

These two batters had competed for the second opening slot for Australia during their Border-Gavaskar Trophy series win over India.

The Australian A side also includes Test players Cooper Connolly and Todd Murphy.

Squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran, N Jagadeesan (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (vc & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Ayush Badoni, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, Yash Thakur.

(With PTI Inputs)