Das to lead India A in England

SS Das has been chosen as captain of the India A team for their forthcoming tour of England. Hemang Badani - who scored a heroic century against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy final - will be the vice-captain, while Sandeep Patil will accompany the team as coach.

The line-up includes plenty of players who performed well in the domestic season. Wasim Jaffer, who scored two half-centuries in the final, gets another chance to prove himself in seaming conditions after a disappointing tour of England with the senior team last year. Apart from Das and Jaffer, the team includes two more openers - Gautam Gambhir from Delhi and Satyajit Parab from Baroda.

Sridharan Sriram, who averaged 58 in the Ranji Trophy in 2002-03, was rewarded with a ticket to the squad, as were Ambati Rayudu and Rohan Gavaskar. VVS Laxman, who had captained the A team to the West Indies, wasn't considered as he had made himself unavailable for selection.

Most of the bowlers who went to the West Indies for the A tour retained their places - Avishkar Salvi, L Balaji, Murali Kartik and Amit Mishra were all included in the line-up. Tinu Yohannan and Rakesh Patel missed out, though, and were replaced by seamers Amit Bhandari and Irfan Pathan (jr).

The squad will undergo an 18-day training session at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore, where John Wright, coach of the Indian team, will assist them. The tour starts with a one-day match against British Universities on June 25. Also on the itinerary is a three-day match against the South African national team, who will be touring England for a five-Test series.

Squad
SS Das (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Satyajit Parab, Hemang Badani, Sridharan Sriram, Ambati Rayudu, Rohan Gavaskar, Vijay Bharadwaj, Parthiv Patel (wk), L Balaji, Avishkar Salvi, Amit Bhandari, Irfan Pathan (jr), Murali Kartik, Amit Mishra.