Indian National Men’s Selection Committee has announced the squad for the final three Tests of the IDFC First Bank series against England.
KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja have been named in India’s squad for the final three Tests against England having recovered from the quadriceps and hamstring injuries respectively that kept them out of the Test in Visakhapatnam. However, the BCCI has clarified that their participation will be subject to clearance from the medical team.
The pair bring substantial experience back to an Indian side that is missing several big names. Among those that continue to miss out is fast-bowling ace Mohammed Shami, who is yet to return to action after suffering an ankle injury at the end of last year’s World Cup campaign. As has been reported earlier, star batter and former captain Virat Kohli will take no part in the series owing to a family emergency.
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The other major absentee will be Shreyas Iyer in the middle order. The 29-year-old complained of back stiffness during the second Test and has now been ruled out of the remainder of the series considering he has already had issues with his back in the last 12 months. As a result, both Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan have managed to retain their spots.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj, who was rested from the second Test in Visakhapatnam, is picked in the squad. While Mukesh Kumar has retained his spot, Avesh Khan has been released and in his place, the selection committee has picked Akash Deep. Following Jadeja’s return, Saurabh Kumar has been released as well.
The third Test of the series, currently locked at 1-1, starts on February 15 in Rajkot.
India squad for the final three Tests:Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rajat Patidar, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep
