Could India's 2nd XI beat anyone at home?

Since England's series win in India in 2012, India have played 32 matches at home. They have won 26, drawn 5 and lost 1(Smith and SOK masterclass).

This begs the question, could India's 2nd XI remain a dominant force at home. It is trivial the gap between the opposition and the second stringers would narrow but by how much?

Assessing the players who have been in and out of the Indian squad in recent times and those who have been performing remarkably well for India A, I believe the 2nd XI would look something similar to this:

1. Prithvi Shaw
2. KL Rahul
3. Priyank Panchal
4. Shubman Gill
5. oh kaptain my kaptain (c)
6. Rishabh Pant (wk)
7. Hardik Pandya
8. Ishant Sharma
9. Kuldeep Yadav
10. Umesh Yadav
11. Shahbaz Nadeem

Currently, Bumrah (1st team), Pandya and Shaw are unavailable so Ishant would go into the first team. I would suspect Abhimanyu Easwaran (opener), Jalaj Saxena/ Shivam Dube (all rounders) and Mohammed Siraj (bowler) would be the replacements.

Minor concern is that the tail is slightly long.

Over a 3+ match series, I could see NZ winning the series and quite possibly OZ if they can find a second spinner. I can't see anyone else getting close.

In summary, NZ clear favourites, OZ have the edge and 2nd XI has the edge against all other nations. The matches will be much more competitive.

submitted by /u/coolestbeans2000
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