While all the attention of the cricket world is on the India-New Zealand series, the Indian Premier League (IPL) retention announcements, and the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led India 'A' squad will begin the team's shadow tour down under on Thursday (October 31) with the first unofficial Test match at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay.

This will be the first of three matches the 'India A' team will play on the tour, with a second match against 'Australia' set to take place at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from November 7. Later, they will go head-to-head against the main Indian team in a three-day intra-squad match from November 15 at the WACA to help the Rohit Sharma-led squad prepare for the BGT, which kickstarts on November 22 at the Optus Stadium in Perth.

Skipper Ruturaj will open the batting alongside Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has been named in the Indian team for the Australia tour, and look to make a strong case to make his Test debut. Sai Sudharsan, who has already played ODI and T20I cricket for India, is not far away from getting called up to the national team in red-ball cricket and will bat at number three.

Devdutt Padikkal made his Test debut for India in March against England at Dharamshala and scored a half-century. He is expected to bat at the number four position.

Nitish Kumar Reddy has been fast-tracked into the Test team for the BGT, and the pace-bowling all-rounder has a good chance of making the playing XI. The 21-year-old should take the number five spot, and his performances will be keenly watched in the unofficial Tests.

Ishan Kishan should start as the wicketkeeper batter as he comes closer to making a comeback to the Indian team. Manav Suther is fast emerging as next in line behind the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel for the left-arm spinner and spin-bowling all-rounder spot and could enhance his reputation in Australia.

Tanush Kotian's all-round brilliance was key to Mumbai's Ranji and Irani Trophy wins, and the off-spinner could put himself in front of the queue to be Ravichandran Ashwin's replacement as the team's primary right-arm finger spinner.

Yash Dayal, Navdeep Saini, and Mukesh Kumar should make the playing XI, which will mean Khaleel Ahmed missed out on a spot as it is unlikely that the team will field two left-arm pacers.

India A Likely XI vs Australia A: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan (WK), Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar Yash Dayal, Navdeep Saini

India A Squad for Australia Tour: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Baba Indrajith, Ishan Kishan, Abishek Porel, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal, Navdeep Saini, Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian

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