Aus A series: All you need to know

What's happening?

Australia A, South Africa A and two Indian teams (India A and B) will compete in a quadrangular series of one-day matches in Vijayawada. Teams play two matches against each opponent before the top two sides meet in a final.

When is it?

The first match is tomorrow, August 17, when Australia A face India A. The final is set for August 29.

Who's in the squads?

Australia A: Travis Head (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Joel Paris, Matthew Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain, Jack Wildermuth

South Africa A: Temba Bavuma, Farhaan Behardien, Gihahn Cloete, Theunis de Bruyn, Robbie Frylinck, Beuran Hendricks, Sisanda Magala, Pieter Malan, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Dwaine Pretorius, Rudi Second, Tabraiz Shamsi, Malusi Siboto, Khaya Zondo

India A: Shreyas Iyer (c), Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Krishnappa Gowtham, Siddhesh Lad, Mayank Markande, Mohammed Siraj, Krunal Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ravikumar Samarth, Sanju Samson, Prithvi Shaw, Shivam Mavi, Hanuma Vihari, Suryakumar Yadav

India B: Manish Pandey (c), Mayank Agarwal, Ricky Bhui, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shreyas Gopal, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Kishan, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Siddarth Kaul, Kulwant Khejroliya, Pradish Krishna, Navdeep Saini, Shubman Gill, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar

Who should I watch out for?

Towering quick Billy Stanlake has come on in leaps and bounds in the past 12 months after recovering from a toe injury that saw him miss the start of last summer. He's fit again after breaking a finger in the IPL and his pace and height will be a huge asset for the Australians.

Temba Bavuma is now a Test regular for the Proteas and looks to be the lynchpin in the South Africa A middle order. He now was 31 Tests under his belt and is the class batsman in the squad, and the sight of him taking on Stanlake – who stands 42cm taller – will be an interesting one. It'll be cricket's version of David versus Goliath, but heart trumps size any day and Bavuma has plenty of that.

For the hosts, it's hard to look past skippers Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey, two players with international experience and first-class averages above 50. Prithvi Shaw, at just 18, is an exciting talent who has seven centuries in 14 first-class matches.

Best battle expected?

While it's one-day cricket, it will be fascinating to see how Australia A's batsmen play spin bowling. A lot has been made about Australia's susceptibility to quality spin bowling and this series will be another chance for the tourists to prove the doubters wrong. Batsmen Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head and Matthew Renshaw will be pushing their case for a Test selection to the UAE, and good performances here and in the following four-day series will be worth their weight in gold.

Australia A Tour of India

Australia A one-day squad: Travis Head (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Joel Paris, Matthew Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain, Jack Wildermuth

Schedule

One-day fixtures in Vijayawada

17 August v India A

19 August v South Africa A

21 August v India B

23 August v India A

25 August v South Africa A

27 August v India B

29 August - Quad-Series Final

Australia A four-day squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Michael Neser, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Matthew Renshaw, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain

Four-day fixtures in Vizag

2-5 September v India A

8-11 September v India A