India 'A'-Aus 'A' square off in 1st unofficial Test tomorrow

Chennai With an aim to create a solid bench strength Rahul Dravidcoached India A would take on Australia A in the first unofficial cricket Test of the twomatch series starting here tomorrowCome tomorrow India A under its new coach Dravid would embark on a new mission to create a wider pool of cricketers for the country Tours of A teams gained emphasis under the Anil Kumbleled current Technical Committee of the Cricket Board BCCI as these matches will help in spotting the next generation of players for the national senior teamPujaraJust after taking charge of the A team Dravid has laid emphasis on the bowlers ability to take 20 wickets and batsmen intent to stay longer period of time at the wicketIndia A will be lead by toporder batsman Cheteshwar Pujara who will be eager to return among runs and earn his place back in the senior Test sidePujara who fell out of favour after struggling in England and Australia and was dropped from the recent Bangladesh squad is keen for big scores The Saurashtra runmachine who had earlier led the A teams against South Africa away and against the West Indies in 2013 would be desperately looking forward to the series to prove his detractors wrong The fourday matches Australia A would also give Pujara an opportunity to showcase his captaincy skillsThe Indian team has mixture of experienced and and young players who would be looking forward to make a mark for themselves on home conditions Apart from Pujara the unofficial Test series would be an ideal platform for the likes of K L Rahul Abhinav Mukund and spinners Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha to prove their worth while new ball bowlers Varun Aaroon and Umesh Yadav would be hoping to cement their places in the senior side after having struggled in the recent toursTo Indias advantage the home team players have played more number of competitive matches in the domestic scene compared to the Aussies Going by the team strengths India has a balanced side While the toporder looks solid Indias pace attack has variety in the form of Aaroon Yadav and Abhimanyu Mithun The spin department will be spearheaded by legspinner Amit Mishra in the company of leftarm spinner OjhaOn the batting front Rahul in particular would be itching to make runs against a formidable Australian bowling attack especially after having missed the Bangladesh tour due to illness Besides there players like Mukund Vijay Shankar and Baba Aparajith who have shown their potential with the bat in domestic matches and would like to translate that at the international stageShankar in fact is the only allrounder in the team and would be keenly observed by the selectors after he made a mark for himself in the domestic season Local lad Shankar a new ball bowler is familiar with the conditions at Chepauk and is also capable of bowling long spells But Pujara and Co would be wary of their opponents led by Usman KhajaKhawaja had recently underwent a left knee reconstruction surgery and would like to make good use of this opportunity to get back to the Australian side Khawaja last played a Test for Australia during the 2013 Ashes tour He had been in fine form for Queensland scoring 523 runs at a strike rate of 7471 including a top score of166 last year before the injuryBesides Khwaja Joe Burns wicketkeeper batsman Matthew Wade Nic Maddinson and allrounder Marcus Stoinis are also capable of putting the Indian attack in disarray The Austrlaian side also has a formidable pace attack which they always rely onThe series will also be a great opportunity for Australian spin duo of Ashton Agar and Stephen OKeefe to test their skills on friendly subcontinent tracks