India A to play 3 four-day games against New Zealand A.
Mohan will replace KL Rahul, who will play in the first multi-day game, and then will link up with the Indian team for the ODI series. The first multi-day game between India A and New Zealand A begins on Saturday at Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln University.
Shikhar Mohan, a left-handed opener, continued his red-hot form with back-to-back hundreds in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. Shikhar smashed 143 against Kerala in Jamshedpur and then scored a match-saving 127 against Maharashtra in Pune.
In addition to the Ranji Trophy, Mohan performed well in the Duleep Trophy final in September, where he scored half-centuries for East Zone versus South Zone in both innings. In October, he scored 60 for the rest of India against Jammu & Kashmir in the first innings of the Irani Cup.
Shikhar's mentor, Ishank Jaggi, a former Jharkhand cricketer, has heaped praise on the youngster, saying the time is absolutely ripe for him to take the next step.
"It is perfect timing. He is in good form. Scored two centuries in Ranji. Had a great Duleep Trophy final and the Irani Trophy as well," Jaggi told Times of India.
Mohan had an excellent debut Ranji Trophy season, scoring 613 runs at an average of 55.73, including two centuries.
"Look, he has been in good form for the last four to five years. He has dominated age-group cricket as well. I feel this is a great time for him to have this experience. It will be great exposure for him. He will realize what he needs to add to his game and will come back as a better cricketer,” Jaggi said to Mohan.
One issue with Shikhar's batting, which the youngster himself has admitted to, is his inability to convert starts into big scores, something he is working on with Jaggi.
"In my first year of Under-19 cricket, I scored around 550 runs, with most of my scores in the 70s and 80s. The following year, I wanted to focus more and convert those starts into bigger scores. Before facing a ball, I talk to myself. I remind myself to watch the ball and stay focused. That has helped me a lot. Jaggi Bhai also helped me with this, especially when he was with the Under-19 team. I started concentrating more and focusing on one ball at a time. That approach has really helped me," Mohan had told the Times of India.
Shikhar will travel to New Zealand on October 26 and will link up with the India A squad in Christchurch, where the second four-day game will be played from October 31.
India A squad for four-day series vs New Zealand A:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (for the first match), Devdutt Padikkal, R Smaran, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Dhruv Jurel (capt, wk), Washington Sundar, Auqib Nabi, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Manav Suthar, Mukesh Choudhary, B Sai Sudharsan, Yash Rathod, Mukesh Kumar, Rishabh Pant (subject to fitness), Shikhar Mohan (for the last two matches)