New Delhi, November 8: Rajat Patidar has been withdrawn from the India A squad for the ACC Rising Stars Asia Cup after he informed the BCCI that he should not be considered for selection in the 50-over format while he manages existing injuries, the board said on Sunday. Patidar had been named vice-captain of the Tilak Varma-led squad.

Source: BCCI statement via Cricbuzz

The Men's Selection Committee has named Rinku Singh as vice-captain in Patidar's place and added Delhi all-rounder Ayush Badoni to the squad. Badoni has been in outstanding Ranji Trophy form, scoring 559 runs with back-to-back double-centuries against Gujarat and Jharkhand, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Source: ESPNcricinfo

Patidar's withdrawal is not a loss of form. He captained Madhya Pradesh in three matches in the first leg of the Ranji Trophy and scored hundreds against Puducherry and Bihar, and before that he scored two half-centuries in three games for India A in the one-day series against Australia A, Cricbuzz reported. The BCCI has not specified the nature of his injuries.

The tournament runs from November 19 to 29 in Doha, Qatar. India A are in Group B with Nepal, the UAE and Pakistan A, and open their campaign against Nepal on November 20 at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium. They face Pakistan A on November 22. Group A has Bangladesh A, Sri Lanka A, Afghanistan A and Hong Kong, China; the semi-finals are on November 26 and 27 and the final on November 29.

The squad also marks fast bowler Harshit Rana's return to action — he has not played since July, when he was with the senior team on the tour of England, ESPNcricinfo reported. Tilak Varma and Kumar Kushagra will join the squad after the India A red-ball tour of New Zealand.

Updated India A squad: Tilak Varma (captain), Rinku Singh (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Prabhsimran Singh, Kumar Kushagra, Suryansh Shedge, Shahbaz Ahmed, Vipraj Nigam, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav, Arshad Khan and Ayush Badoni.