India’s squad for first two Tests vs England; Virat, Hardik, Ishant return; Prithvi Shaw dropped

NewsBharati    20-Jan-2021 11:40:14 AM
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New Delhi, Jan 20: The newly assembled All-India Senior Selection Committee met on Tuesday to pick the squad for the first two Test matches to be played at Chennai against England. The committee headed by former India cricketer Chetan Sharma had regular India captain Virat Kohli in attendance (virtually).
 
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Kohli, who headed back to India on paternity leave after the Adelaide Test, will be returning in the 18-man squad along with pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the final Test in Brisbane against Australia due to an abdominal strain. The squad was named only for the first two Tests of the four-match series, starting on February 5 in Chennai.
 
Senior pacer Ishant had missed the whole Australia tour due to the side strain he suffered during the IPL in the UAE while Pandya only played the ODIs and T20Is Down Under. KL Rahul, who sprained his left wrist while batting in the nets and headed back to India, is included in the squad. R Ashwin is also named in the squad as he had missed the final test against Australia.
 
Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur who displayed a gritty knock with bat and ball are also named in the squad. The only five-haul wicket-taking bowler, Mohammad Siraj will be once again donning the Test jersey. However, Tamil Nadu paceman T Natarajan was dropped as the selection panel added Axar Patel, a left-arm spinner and useful batsman down the order, to the squad as he would be more effective to counter England on Indian pitches. Prithvi Shaw, who did not impress with his batting, was dropped from the squad.
 
Squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur
 
The Committee also picked five net bowlers and five players as standbys.
 
Net Bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar
Standby players: K S Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar, Priyank Panchal