Mumbai, Jan 13: The Men’s Selection Committee on Friday announced India’s 16-member squad for the first two Tests against England. India are set to play a five-match Test series, the first of which will be held in Hyderabad on January 25. The second match of the series will be played on February 2 in Vizag.
The fifth and final test will be held in Dharamshala and the series will conclude on March 11.
Wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel has received a maiden call-up for the Indian Test squad for the first two Tests. However, injured star pacer Mohammed Shami, who continues to recover from his injury, was not named in the squad. India batter Ishan Kishan, who had asked for a break previously during the South Africa tour and Afghanistan T20Is, was not included in the squad.
The veteran batter Rohit Sharma will lead the team, with star pacer Jasprit Bumrah taking up the role of vice captain. Meanwhile, India has added three wicketkeepers, KL Rahul, KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel, to the squad.
India named four spinners–Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav–in their Test squad for the first two matches. In addition to having a formidable pace attack, India included Avesh Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mukesh Kumar in the strong 16-member squad.
The middle-order positions are occupied by Virat Kohli, Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Shubman Gill in the batting lineup, which is unchanged.
Squad for first 2 Tests vs England: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC) and Avesh Khan.