The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday announced the men's team squad for the first Test match against Bangladesh. The Indian Board named a 16-member team for the opening Test against the Bangla Tigers, starting on September 19 in Chennai.
Big wigs Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant have all returned to the team, while Yash Dayal has been handed his maiden Test call-up. Dayal, who plays for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, impressed the selectors with his performance in the ongoing Duleep Trophy, where he picked four wickets for India B.
Dayal had earlier earned a maiden India call-up in India's ODI series against Bangladesh but got replaced by Kuldeep Sen after an injury. He is yet to play a game for India.
It is worth noting that Yash Dayal was the same man who got hit for five straight sixes in the last over of his then-IPL team Gujarat Titans in a match against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023. A rising pacer Dayal's career was hit with a nightmare when KKR's Rinku Singh deposited him for five back-to-back sixes to chase down GT's target of 205.
Dayal was then bestowed with the opportunity to bowl the final over with 29 runs in hand to defend. Umesh Yadav took a single off the first ball to bring Rinku on strike. The GT bowler erred his lengths and had to pay for his mistakes as the KKR batter smashed him for five maximums to pull off a heist.
But Dayal has come a long way after that heartbreaking night. He was released by GT but was picked by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for IPL 2024 and had a far better season than the previous one. In 14 matches for RCB, Dayal picked up 15 wickets, being one of the major lynchpins in their fast-bowling attack.
Virat, Pant return
After missing the Test series against England due to personal reasons, batting maestro Virat Kohli is back in the team. Rishabh Pant is also set to make his Test return for the first time after his horrific car accident in late December 2022. KL Rahul, who played only one match during the five-match Test series against England, is also included in the team.
However, Shreyas Iyer has been dropped. He was part of the Indian team for the England Tests but got dropped after the first two Tests. He was also troubled by an injury during the same time.
India's squad for the first Test match against Bangladesh:
Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.
