Ayush Badoni and Priyansh Arya selected for India A [Source: AFP]In a significant development, young players Ayush Badoni and Priyansh Arya have been selected for the India A squad ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up matches.As part of the preparations for the upcoming World Cup, the India A team will play two warm-up matches. The first match will be against the USA on February 2 in Navi Mumbai, followed by a second game against Namibia on February 6 in Bengaluru.Ayush Badoni and Priyansh Arya released from Delhi’s Ranji Trophy squadMeanwhile, due to their selection in the India A squad, both Badoni and Arya have been released from Delhi’s Ranji Trophy squad for the 2025–26 season. According to Sportstar report, the Delhi team has made this decision to allow the players to focus fully on their national duties.As a result of Badoni’s absence, Ayush Doseja has been named as the stand-in captain for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy matches.It is worth mentioning that Ayush Badoni has been in excellent form recently. Notably, he recently earned his first-ever call-up to the Indian ODI squad after Washington Sundar was ruled out due to injury. In the IPL 2025, Badoni impressed everyone by scoring 329 runs in 11 innings at a healthy strike rate of 148.20, showing his ability to score quickly and consistently.Similarly, Priyansh Arya has also enjoyed a successful season. In IPL 2025, he scored 303 runs in just 8 innings, with an impressive strike rate of 166.48. In addition to this, Arya performed well in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he scored 344 runs in 8 innings, proving his value in the limited-overs format.It is important to mention that both players are not new to the India A setup. Ayush Badoni has already represented India A in four-day matches as well as List-A games. On the other hand, Priyansh Arya has so far played only white-ball matches for the ‘A’ team. Delhi’s Ranji Trophy strugglesAt present, the Delhi Ranji Trophy team is placed sixth in Elite Group D. Unfortunately, the team has not won a single match out of the six matches played so far. They have lost one match, while the remaining games ended in draws. This poor run has added pressure on the squad during the season.T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up plans for other teamsLooking ahead, most teams will play warm-up matches in India and Sri Lanka before the World Cup starts on February 7. Notably, India will face South Africa in a high-profile warm-up match on February 4 at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, repeating the 2024 World Cup final clash. Recently, India defeated South Africa 3-1 in a five-match series at home in December.However, top teams like Australia, England, and New Zealand have chosen not to play warm-up matches. Australia will instead play a three-match T20I series, while England will compete against Sri Lanka.
