Ishant Sharma is three short of 100 Tests © Getty Images
Even as the dust settles on India’s historic series win in Australia, the new selection panel, chaired by Chetan Sharma, met virtually on Tuesday to pick India’s squad for the first two Tests against England in Chennai. Among the big outcomes were the return of Virat Kohli and Ishant Sharmaand Hardik Pandya to an 18-member squad.
Kohli, who missed the last three Australia Tests to attend the birth of his first child, will take over the captaincy, as expected. Ishant, meanwhile, returns after proving his match fitness in the league phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s for Delhi. Ishant hasn’t played Tests since February last year, having missed the Australia tour after picking up an abdominal injury in the IPL. He is currently three Tests short of becoming only the second Indian fast bowler after Kapil Dev to feature in 100 Tests. Pandya, meanwhile, has returned to the Test set up for the first time since the England tour of 2018.
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur were all rewarded for their performances in Australia, having been retained in the squad, while T Natarajan, brought into the Test squad in Australia after a spate of injuries to the first-choice pacers, was left out. Siraj finished the Australia tour with 13 wickets in three Tests, the highest for India, while Thakur picked up seven wickets to go with his crucial half-century in Brisbane.
The spin department will be spearheded by R Ashwin, despite concerns over his back tweak that forced him out of the series-deciding Brisbane Test. Washington Sundar retains his place along with Kuldeep Yadav, who featured in just the one while-ball game in Australia. Sundar had a sensational debut in Brisbane, in which he made two vital contributions with the bat along with four wickets. The selectors decided to also have a reinforcement in Axar Patel, the left-arm spinning allrounder, who is uncapped in Tests.
Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma will likely extend their opening partnership, with Mayank Agarwal named the third opener. Prithvi Shaw was left out altogether. Shaw featured in just the Day-Night Test in Adelaide, before being dropped for the remainder of the series. KL Rahul, meanwhile, won’t be part of the first Test that starts February 5, but will be included from the second Test onwards. Rahul returned midway through the Test series in Australia due to a wrist injury, for which he’s rehabilitating currently at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
More to follow
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo