Tilak Varma will captain India A at the Asian Cricket Council Men’s Rising Stars Asia Cup in Doha, with Rajat Patidar named as his deputy. The Tilak Varma India A appointment was confirmed on 2 November, when the men’s selection committee named a 15-member squad for the tournament, which will run from 19 to 29 November in Qatar. Tilak is also India’s Twenty20 international vice-captain, and Patidar has won the Indian Premier League twice as a captain.
Prabhsimran Singh and Kumar Kushagra are the two wicketkeepers in the squad, which also includes Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Rinku Singh, Prince Yadav, Suryansh Shedge, Shahbaz Ahmed and Harsh Dubey. Tanush Kotian, Vipraj Nigam and Arshad Khan complete the 15. Seam-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana has been named after recovering from a rectus femoris strain picked up while bowling during a match simulation at the Board of Control for Cricket in India Centre of Excellence on 7 September, after he had first reported there for hamstring injury rehabilitation.
Tilak Varma India A squad: who made the cut
The Tilak Varma India A leadership takes over from Jitesh Sharma and Naman Dhir, who were captain and vice-captain last year. Sooryavanshi, Shedge and Dubey are the only players retained from the 2025 squad.
The omissions from last year’s group are Jitesh, Dhir, Priyansh Arya, Abishek Porel, Ashutosh Sharma, Nehal Wadhera, Ramandeep Singh, Suyash Sharma, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Yash Thakur and Vijaykumar Vyshak. The Tilak Varma India A change gives a new group of players a chance to press claims in a tournament that sits a step below the senior national side, and it leaves the previous edition’s leadership group out entirely.
Tilak Varma India A group stage fixtures in Doha
The Tilak Varma India A side have been drawn in Group B with the United Arab Emirates, Nepal and Pakistan A. Group A contains Bangladesh A, Sri Lanka A, Afghanistan A and Hong Kong, China. India A will open their campaign against Nepal on 20 November at the West End Park International Stadium, and they will take on Pakistan A at the same venue on 22 November.
The Tilak Varma India A group stage ends against the UAE on 24 November at the University of Doha for Science and Technology. The top two sides from each group will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be played on 26 and 27 November, and the final is scheduled for 29 November. The fixtures give India A three group games in five days before the knockout rounds begin.
The balance of the squad covers every base the selectors could need in Doha. Prabhsimran Singh and Kumar Kushagra give the side two wicketkeeping options, while Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Rinku Singh and Tilak himself form the batting core. Shahbaz Ahmed, Tanush Kotian and Vipraj Nigam offer spin and all-round options, and Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav and Arshad Khan lead the pace options. The Tilak Varma India A group therefore arrives in Qatar with a settled shape rather than a collection of spare parts.
The Tilak Varma India A campaign also gives the selectors a close look at players who could step up to the senior side. A strong tournament in Doha, against Pakistan A and the other emerging sides in Asia, carries weight because the opposition is close to senior standard and the matches are played under tournament pressure. For younger players such as Sooryavanshi, the trip is a chance to show they can handle that setting, and for older squad members such as Rinku Singh, it is a chance to remind the selectors of what they can do.
The players named in the squad will miss a large part of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for their respective states while they are in Doha. That trade-off is part of the tournament’s place in the calendar, as the domestic Twenty20 competition runs at the same time. For the Tilak Varma India A captain, the assignment adds a captaincy role to a year in which he has already held a leadership position with the senior Twenty20 side, and the Doha tournament will test that group against the best emerging sides in Asia.