Rinku Singh has been added to the India A squad for the second four-day match against England Lions, to be played in Ahmedabad from January 24, after earlier only being named in the squad for the third - and final - game of the series.
Rinku, 26, has had a busy five months and a bit ever since making his T20I debut against Ireland in August last year. He was part of the squad that won gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games before playing the T20I series against Australia, South Africa and Afghanistan.
He made his ODI debut in South Africa in December last year where he played two games. He also received his maiden India A call-up ahead of the second four-day game against South Africa A in Benoni, though he was not part of the playing XI. Rinku was instead seen in the Indian dugout at SuperSport Park in Centurion during the Boxing Day Test and also came out as a substitute fielder.
Rinku has so far played 46 first-class matches in which he has scored 3109 runs at an average of 57.57. He most recently turned out for Uttar Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy third-round match against Bihar in Meerut. While the match ended on January 22, only 115 overs were possible in the game across four days due to fog and bad light.
He is yet to turn out for India A but his addition to the squad comes at a time when the selectors are looking at a potential replacement for Virat Kohli, who opted out of the first two Tests against England due to personal reasons. The likes of Rajat Patidar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sarfaraz Khan and B Sai Sudharsan are all seen as contenders.
India A squad for second four-dayer vs England Lions
Abhimanyu Easwaran (capt), B Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Washington Sundar, Sourabh Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Vidwath Kaverappa, Upendra Yadav, Akash Deep, Yash Dayal
India A squad for third four-dayer vs England Lions
Abhimanyu Easwaran (capt), B Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Washington Sundar, Shams Mulani, Arshdeep Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Vidwath Kaverappa, Upendra Yadav (wk), Akash Deep, Yash Dayal