Mumbai, May 18 -- Abhimanyu Easwaran, who was in the running to make a Test debut in Australia, was on Friday named captain of the 18-member India A squad to take on England Lions. Shubman Gill, frontrunner to become the next Test captain, and Tamil Nadu opener Sai Sudharsan will reach England in time for the second of the three red-ball matches, which will serve as a dress rehearsal for India's upcoming five-Test series in England, starting June 20. The first of the three tour games will be played from May 30 to June 2. This match will serve as an opportunity for Easwaran, 29 to push his case. It will primarily involve players whose IPL teams are out (like Yashasvi Jaiswal) or likely to miss out on playoffs. An exception has been made for Delhi Capitals' Karun Nair, an indication that the middle order batter is in contention for a Test return; more so considering the middle order shakeup in the offing after Virat Kohli's retirement. The squad also marks the return of Ishan Kishan to red-ball contention. After losing his national contract last year for giving domestic cricket a miss, the Jharkhand wicketkeeper batter is slowly making his way back. With the arrival of Dhruv Jurel though, Kishan may still have to bide his time for the second wicketkeeper's berth behind Rishabh Pant. Interestingly, both pace bowling all-rounders Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur have been named for India A. While Nitish made his mark in his debut series in Australia, scoring a hundred at Melbourne, he wasn't quite up to scratch with the ball. There is a possibility that selectors could pick both Nitish and Thakur in the main squad to offer the team management more all-round options. Thakur, who Nitish replaced in Australia, is a more seasoned bowling resource with experience of English conditions. The selectors have picked plenty of fast bowlers in the A squad from Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Tushar Deshpande and left-armer Khaleel Ahmed. With Jasprit Bumrah unlikely to feature in all the Test matches to manage his workload and Mohammed Shami's bowling form under a scanner, the shadow tour will serve an opportunity for the team to narrow down on the options for the opening Test at Leeds. Similarly, batter Sarfaraz Khan would look to use the opportunity to stake his claim after getting no game time in Australia. Ruturaj Gaikwad has made it back, recovering from his elbow injury. Offie Tanush Kotian and left-arm spinners Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey are the three spinners picked. The last of the three tour matches will be an intra-squad match to be played against the India senior team, starting June 13 at Beckenham. India A squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (VC) (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (WK), Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harsh Dubey....