The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the senior men's squad for the first two Tests of the five-match series against England on Friday, January 12. Young wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel has earned his maiden call-up as Ishan Kishan misses out again.
Ishan had requested the BCCI for a break and head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed recently that he hasn't made himself available for selection yet.
Notably, India's squad clearly suggests that they will field a spin-heavy side as left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and left-arm orthodox bowler Axar Patel have been recalled to the longest format of the game to support the star duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
The announcement has led to the ouster of bowling allrounder Shardul Thakur and emerging right-arm pacer Prasidh Krishna, who were a part of the Test side during the recent two-match series against South Africa on latter's home turf.
Both players had failed to make a substantial impact with their performances against the Proteas and it seems that the selectors feel that they won't be as effective as the spinners in the team.
Meanwhile, veteran pacer Mohammed Shami has not been included in the squad as he continues his rehabilitation. Shami reportedly had an ankle condition that ruled him out of the South Africa tour after initially being named in the squad for the tour.
Jasprit Bumrah will once again shoulder the responsibility of vice-captaincy after he performed the same role in the Rainbow Nation. He is not a part of India's ongoing T20I series against Afghanistan after the selectors decided to rest him following India's 1-1 draw against the Proteas.
India 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), Avesh Khan.
