Suryavanshi to partner Arya under Jitesh Sharma

There’s a senior Indian team that is ready to take on South Africa in a Test series. There’s Tilak Varma’s A side that will feature in three unofficial ODIs. Apart from all this, an exciting Team India is ready to battle in the ACC Men’s Asia Cup Rising Stars, formerly known as the T20 Emerging Asia Cup.

This India A team sent for the continental tournament will be led by Jitesh Sharma, who is India’s preferred keeper in the international format alongside Sanju Samson. The entire team features incredible talents who already perform on the IPL stage. Here in Qatar, they should ideally dominate. Right from Vaibhav Suryavanshi to Nehal Wadhera, the talent is immense.

India’s campaign start against UAE on November 14 before the highly anticipated India vs Pakistan clash take place on Sunday, November 16. Oman remains the other team in India’s Group B. Before the first match begins, we take a look at India’s possible XI under Jitesh Sharma.

Predicted India A Playing XI for Asia Cup Rising Stars

• Priyansh Arya
• Vaibhav Suryavanshi
• Naman Dhir
• Nehal Wadhera
• Jitesh Sharma
• Ashutosh Sharma
• Ramandeep Singh
• Harsh Dubey
• Suyash Sharma/Yash Thakur
• Gurjapneet Singh
• Vijaykumar Vyshak

On Bench: Suyash Sharma/Yash Thakur, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Abhisek Porel (wk)

Suryavanshi, Naman Dhir headline blazing batting

Two bright talents Priyansh Arya and Vaibhav Suryavanshi should start, as they are the only two openers selected as well. Suryavanshi is already dominating the Under-19 level, and this will be a great test for him. Arya, meanwhile, had a terrific debut IPL season with PBKS, scoring 475 runs at 179.25 SR.

Two Punjab-born batters then form the middle-order. Naman Dhir and Nehal Wadhera have already done great in the IPL. Naman is part of the Mumbai Indians side and was recently elevated to lead Punjab’s domestic side in the Ranji Trophy as well. Hence, he is the vice-captain of this side and has a terrific T20 strike rate of almost 167. Similarly, Nehal Wadhera is also one of the many finds of MI. He now plays for PBKS and dished out a stellar campaign (369 runs at 145.85 SR) despite batting at tough positions.

Jitesh to aim brownie points before T20 WC

The finishers of this team would be Jitesh Sharma, Ashutosh Sharma and Ramandeep Singh. All three can change the course of a game in a matter of five balls. Jitesh, in particular, would love to dominate here, considering he is very much in the scheme of things for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 in February.

Ramandeep Singh, who scored a valiant 34-ball 64 in the last edition’s semi-final, would be rearing to show why he is only one of the two international players in the squad. With India searching for pace-bowling all-rounders, this should be the moment for Ramandeep. Similarly, Ashutosh would love to create an impact too.

Eyes on Gurjapneet Singh & Harsh Dubey

The bowling unit is interesting for India A. In this high-pace tournament, they will be tested, which is good for the players. While Vijaykumar Vyshak has showcased that he has a brilliant yorkers with him, can he deliver with the new ball? So is the case with Gurjapneet Singh, who was unfortunately ruled out of IPL 2025. While CSK might retain the left-armer, he needs to improve his T20 economy of 9.82. While he has done exceedingly well in red-ball domestic games, Gurjapneet should show what he learnt from MS Dhoni!

For last bowling option, the team should decide between a pacer or a spinner according to the pitch at the West End International Cricket Stadium in Doha. If it is a black soil, offering slow turn, Suyash Sharma could be a great option. He is now an IPL 2025 winner with RCB as well. Although his side didn’t do great, Suyash had a decent DPLT20 2025 as well (9 wickets at 7.81 Ec). Meanwhile, if the pitch has something for the pacers, Yash Thakur could be an amazing option. He is an underrated T20 pacer, who has great variety to offer. It was a shame that PBKS didn’t use him much but Thakur has taken 88 T20 wickets at a great average of 20.14 across 64 T20s.

India A squad for ACC Asia Cup Rising Stars

Priyansh Arya, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 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. Stand-by players: Gurnoor Brar, Kumar Kushagra, Tanush Kotian, Sameer Rizvi, Shaik Rasheed.