Axar, Kuldeep return; 3 players dropped: Complete list of changes in India's Test squad for England series
The BCCI announced India's 16-man squad for the first two of the five-match Test series against England starting January 25 in Hyderabad. 22-year-old wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel getting the maiden international call-up in the squad was the biggest news regarding the Test team announcement.
Five days after the T20 squad was announced the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) dropped another Indian team squad news, this time for the first two Test matches against England. Most of the 16-man team was on the expected lines apart from one spot, the one of an extra batter and that has gone to the uncapped wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel. The selectors hit two birds with one stone by getting Jurel given his batting pedigree in the middle order and the added advantage of him being a keeper. However, Jurel's inclusion meant Ishan Kishan might still be on a break.
The five-match Test series kicks off in Hyderabad on Thursday, January 25 with the second game to be played in Vizag from Friday, February 2. While Jurel coming in was the only change as far as the batting department is concerned, there were a couple of tweaks in the bowling department too, albeit predictable from the team that played in South Africa. Here's a look at all the changes in the Indian squad for England Tests from SA series:
IN:
Axar Patel, the England batter's nemesis in 2021 and Kuldeep Yadav have returned to India's Test squad after missing out on selection in South Africa, which was expected given the conditions. Apart from these two, Jurel was the only other inclusion to the side. Even though there was a possibility that the selectors could have looked at someone like a Sarfaraz Khan or Abhimanyu Easwaran given it's a home series but both of them will have to wait.
OUT:
Easwaran was the unfortunate one to be left out of the squad. Apart from him, pace-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur has also been omitted while pacer Prasidh Krishna, who made his debut in the South Africa series has also been left out with Avesh Khan being retained in the squad. Mohammed Shami continues to be on the sidelines given his injury concerns while the question remains on Kishan's absence too.
India's Test squad for first two matches against 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, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan