Mahender Singh Dhoni

Chennai: Bengal medium-pacer Shib Shankar Paul and Bihar wicketkeeper Mahender Singh Dhoni have been included in the India A squad for the tours of Zimbabwe and Kenya starting later this month.

The 15-member squad led by Sairaj Bahutule also includes Bengal captain Rohan Gavaskar. Hemang Badani has been named vice-captain. While this is Dhoni’s maiden call-up to the India A side, Paul earned the distinction last year, for three one-dayers against England A.

However, Dhoni is not the only wicketkeeper in the 15. Keeping him company is the India under-19 stumper — Dinesh Karthik of Tamil Nadu.

“The India A players will attend a camp in Bangalore from July 12 to 18 before leaving for Zimbabwe on July 19,” said BCCI secretary S.K. Nair.

THE SQUAD

Batsmen — Akash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir, Dhiraj Jadhav, Hemang Badani, S. Sriram, Rohan Gavaskar l Wicketkeepers — Dinesh Karthik, Mahender Singh Dhoni l Spinners — Sairaj Bahutule, Ramesh Powar, Yogesh Golvalkar l Medium-pacers — Amit Bhandari, Avishkar Salvi, Munaf Patel, Shib Shankar Paul. l Coach: Sandeep Patil.