The Indian selectors on Wednesday picked the squad for the first three Tests of the upcoming five-match Test series against England. Young and promising wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has been called up in the squad in place of the injured Wriddhiman Saha. Dinesh Karthik will be the first-choice keeper.
Saha has still not recovered from the thumb injury which he got during the eleventh season of the Indian Premier League. Karun Nair has been included in the squad and selectors once again ignored Rohit Sharma. Rohit has never been able to show his form in the consistent basis in the longer format of the game.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been included in the squad as he has recovered from the injury which forced him to miss the T20Is and ODIs against England. Fast bowler Mohammed Shami has also been included after he passed the Yo-Yo test at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who further aggravated his sore back is also not part of the squad. The pacers in the squad are Ishant Sharma, Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur.
Kuldeep Yadav is also part of the Test squad which also have likes of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in it.
India’s squad for first three Tests against England: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur.