Sandhu set to face India in tour game

India will confront highly-rated NSW paceman Gurinder Sandhu in the opening clash of their upcoming Australian tour.

Cricket Australia on Thursday named the 12-man squad that will tackle the tourists at Adelaide’s Glenelg Oval on November 24-25.

India will tune up for the four-Test series against Australia with a pair of two-day games in South Australia.

Sandhu, set to be squeezed out of NSW’s Sheffield Shield side given the influx of internationals, will spearhead the developmental XI’s attack.

The beanpole, born in Sydney’s western suburbs after his parents moved from Punjab in the 1980s, represented Australia A earlier this year.

Cricket Australia talent manager Greg Chappell noted the 21-year-old has “performed consistently well at domestic level and underage international level”.

“He was very impressive in the two four-day matches against South Africa A in August this year and we expect that he will perform well against this high-quality team,” Chappell said.

Ashton Turner, a teammate of Sandhu’s at the under-19 World Cup in 2012, will captain the CA XI.

“He recently captained a CA XI side to victory over South Africa in a T20 tour match, in which he also performed admirably with the bat,” Chappell said.

NSW pair Josh Lalor and Ryan Carters were also named in the side, while Queensland young gun Nick Stevens will be another to watch.

Stevens celebrated his maiden first-class century in the opening round of the Sheffield Shield season.

Troy Cooley, head coach at Cricket Australia’s world-class training facility in Brisbane, will mentor the side.

India are set to arrive in Adelaide on November 21.

CA will name a squad for the second game, to be played at Adelaide Oval on November 28-29, at a later date.

CA XI squad for first tour game: Ashton Turner (capt), Ryan Carters, Alex Gregory, Sam Grimwade, Sebastian Gotch, Josh Lalor, David Moody, Jonte Pattison, Gurinder Sandhu, Matthew Short, Kelvin Smith, Nick Stevens.

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