No Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan In India’s Squad For First Two Tests Vs England
Mohammed Shami (X.com)
The BCCI announced a 16-member squad for India’s first two Tests against England, scheduled to get underway on January 25 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. As expected, Rohit Sharma will continue to lead the side, whereas Jasprit Bumrah will serve as his deputy.
Among the notable selections, India will have four designated spinners—Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel—all in their squad. On the other hand, there won’t be Mohammed Shami, who is still recovering from an ankle injury.
There is no place for Ishan Kishan either, who was thought to be India’s wicket-keeping option. KS Bharat has continued to made the cut alongside KL Rahul, while Dhruv Jurel has received his maiden international call-up.
Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, who had miserable outings in South Africa as an opener and No. 3 respectively, kept their places. The move means Cheteshwar Pujara, who recently slammed a fine double hundred for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy 2024, will keep waiting on the sidelines.
Unsurprisingly, Virat Kohli will keep batting at No. 4, while Shreyas Iyer, who did not have a great series in South Africa either and has been dropped in the ongoing three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, will stay in contention in whites.
Alongside Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan will be India’s pace bowling options. Prasidh Krishna, who was in South Africa, was not selected due to a quadriceps injury during a recent Ranji outing.
India's squad for first two Tests vs England
Rohit Sharma (C ), S Gill, Y Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, S Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan
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