The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the team's 16-member squad for the first Test match against Bangladesh. India are hosting Bangladesh in a two-match Test series, starting with the opening game in Chennai from September 19 onwards.
The Indian board has made some big selection calls while picking the team for the opening game. The selectors have dropped several players from the team's previous Test series against England while calling up a few others for the first match against the Bangla Tigers.
Who are the 8 players dropped?
The eight players who were part of the five-match series against England but are not part of the opening game against Bangladesh are Shreyas Iyer, Srikar Bharat, Rajat Patidar, Saurabh Kumar, Washington Sundar, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar and Devdutt Padikkal.
Shreyas played two games in the series against England before getting injured. KS Bharat was the wicketkeeper in place of Ishan Kishan and got to play two Tests but is now not in the squad for the Bangladesh opener.
Rajat Patidar played three Tests during the England series but could not impress in those outings, which resulted in him not finding his place. Saurabh was called in for the second Test but did not get a game against the Three Lions.
Washington, too, had to wait in the wings and did not get a game against England. Avesh was released from the team ahead of the first Test after being named in the squad for the first two games, while Mukesh got one game in that series. Padikkal made 65 in the only innings he batted and is not in the team for the first game vs Bangladesh.
Which players have come into the team?
Three players who were not part of even a single Test against England are now included in the team for the Bangladesh opener. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant make their returns to the Test team. Kohli missed the England series due to personal reasons, while Pant was recovering from a horrific car crash he suffered in late December 2022. Left-arm pacer Yash Dayal gets his maiden Test call-up.
Notably, Rahul has also returned to the team after playing only one Test against the Three Lions. He was injured and didn't play the next four games.
India's squad for the first Test 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.
