India A batter Sai Sudharsan has said he is not concerned about competition for places in the Indian team and remains focused on building his own career path. The 24-year-old made the remarks ahead of India A’s first one-day match against Australia A in Puducherry. Sudharsan missed India’s two-match Test series in Sri Lanka due to a toe injury, with Devdutt Padikkal taking his place at No. 3. However, the Tamil Nadu batter said he does not view the situation as a battle between players for a spot in the team. “I feel mentally we have to understand that we are all writing our own story rather than playing against each other,” Sudharsan said. “Having trust and belief in ourselves and divine timing will make everything pan out fantastically well.” Sudharsan is primarily an opener in white-ball cricket, having regularly opened for Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Gujarat Titans in the IPL. With several players competing for top-order positions in the India A squad, his role in the upcoming one-day series remains a key talking point. Along with Sudharsan, Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Devdutt Padikkal and Arshin Kulkarni are among the top-order options. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad is expected to bat at No. 4, a position he recently occupied for the senior Indian side in the ODIs against the West Indies. Sudharsan, however, said he is not thinking about where he needs to fit into the batting order. “I don't think I am looking at finding a place anywhere. I have always been opening in 50-over cricket and T20 cricket. So, I look at it that way and try to give my best and perform so that the team wins from a good position. That's what I'm focused on,” he said. The batter recently returned from injury during India A’s four-day matches. He scored a steady half-century on a challenging pitch in the opening game before making just 8 and 12 in the second match. He will now look to regain his rhythm in white-ball cricket against an Australia A side featuring several players with international experience. Sudharsan believes the intensity of A-team tours closely resembles international cricket and sees the series as an important opportunity to prepare for the challenges ahead. “The intensity on A tours is almost on par with international cricket,” he said. “As Bala Sir [India A head coach L Balaji] said, shadow tours help fine-tune our batting, bowling, and decision-making continuously.” With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy approaching, Sudharsan also highlighted the importance of A tours in helping players adapt to conditions and understand the environment they may encounter in Australia. “With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy coming up in a few months, these multi-day A games help us understand how pitches behave and how Australian culture operates. Tomorrow's game will feel like a proper international match,” he said. India A head coach L Balaji, meanwhile, praised the depth of Indian cricket and the opportunities available to players across formats. “Four teams were competing simultaneously - Rest of India in Srinagar, India A in Pondicherry, the main [ODI] team in the West Indies, and another in the Asian Games,” Balaji said. According to Balaji, the competition within Indian cricket is healthy and provides players with opportunities to develop across all three formats. “It's good to have healthy competition. Players have space to work across three formats. The mindset should be to make the most of these ample opportunities, and those performing are getting their due,” he added. For Sudharsan, the immediate focus is clear: make the most of his opportunity against Australia A and let his performances determine the next chapter of his career.

Suryansh Shedge has been lined up to replace the injured Hardik Pandya in India A's squad for the upcoming three-match one-day series against Australia A in Puducherry. Hardik was initially included in the India A one-day squad, subject to a fitness clearance, but a fresh injury setback has delayed his return to competitive cricket. The allrounder is understood to still be experiencing pain while bowling, extending his spell on the sidelines that began during the IPL 2026 season in May. Hardik has also been absent from India's ODI setup since the Champions Trophy final in March 2025. Shedge, a 23-year-old medium-pace bowling allrounder, has represented India in three T20Is and has featured prominently for India A in List A cricket. Nearly half of his 15 List A appearances have come for the A side. The Mumbai allrounder recently produced a career-best 72 off 66 balls while batting at No. 7 against Sri Lanka A in Dambulla in June. His innings came during a dramatic contest that was eventually decided by a Super Over. Changes to India A squads There has also been another change to the India A setup. Left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Anukul Roy will replace Naman Dhir in the one-day squad. Dhir has now moved into India's squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against the West Indies, taking the place of Washington Sundar. Washington, who was recently part of India's gold-medal-winning squad at the Asian Games, could feature for Tamil Nadu in their 2026-27 Ranji Trophy opener against Rajasthan if selected. Ruturaj Gaikwad will captain India A in the one-day series, with Devdutt Padikkal serving as his deputy. Padikkal previously made his India A captaincy debut during the preceding red-ball series. Australia A also make changes Australia A have made two changes to their squad ahead of the series. Fast bowler Riley Meredith and allrounder Will Sutherland have been added to the one-day side, replacing Jack Edwards and Aaron Hardie. Edwards left the Australia A squad last month to join Australia's senior team in South Africa, where he subsequently made his ODI debut. Hardie, meanwhile, has been ruled out of the series because of a minor knee injury. The first ODI will be played on October 6 as a day-night match, beginning at 2pm local time in Puducherry. The second and third matches are scheduled for October 9 and October 11, with both games starting at 9am. India A squad Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain) Devdutt Padikkal (vice-captain) Priyansh Arya Kumar Kushagra (wicketkeeper) Rajat Patidar Prabhsimran Singh B Sai Sudharsan Anukul Roy Arshin Kulkarni Nishant Sindhu Suryansh Shedge Arshad Khan Gurjapneet Singh Vipraj Nigam Yash Thakur Australia A squad Mahli Beardman Nikhil Chaudhary Ben Dwarshuis Spencer Johnson Sam Konstas Nathan McSweeney Riley Meredith Todd Murphy Mitch Owen Josh Philippe (wicketkeeper) Tanveer Sangha Liam Scott Lachlan Shaw Will Sutherland