Mumbai: India announced a 20-member squad for the next month’s World Test Championship final against New Zealand and subsequent five-match Test series against England.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and batsman Hanuma Vihari who suffered injuries during India’s tour Down Under last year, made a comeback to the squad.
Jadeja’s replacement in the home Tests against England – Axar Patel – retained his spot based on his exceptional performances.
K L Rahul, who underwent a surgery after being diagnosed with appendicitis, and Wriddhiman Saha, infected with COVID-19 during the recently-postponed IPL 2021, were included subject to their fitness.
Out-of-form spinner Kuldeep Yadav and pacer Navdeep Saini have been left out of the squad. Hardik Pandya, Prithvi Shaw and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were the other three notable exclusions in the 20-member squad.
The selectors also picked four standby players — Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, and Arzan Nagwaswalla, the BCCI said in a statement.
The WTC final against the New Zealand will be held from June 18 in Southampton followed by the Tests against England from August 4.
Following their 3-1 win against England at home, India finished as the No 1 side with 72.2 percentage points and booked their place in the final.
The Test series against England will start in Nottingham, followed by matches at the Lord’s (August 12 to 16), Leeds (August 25 to 29), The Oval (September 2 to 6) and Manchester (September 10 to 14).
India squad:
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).
Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla.
