BCCI has announced 18 man test squad for the first 3 test matches to be played against India starting from 1st August 2018. The major surprise includes hard-hitting Risbabah Pant who performed well in India A tour of England. Also, Shardul Thakur has been included in the squad.
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Mohammed Shami who was suffering from personal problems makes a return to the Indian test team. Kuldeep Yadav, the star of Indian bowling line up in ODI series taking 9 wickets has been included.
Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Pant forms a strong batting line up. Virat Kohli who did not feature in a one-off test match against Afghanistan will make a return as a captain. Rohit Sharma misses out. India will have two wicketkeepers in form of Karthik and Pant who received his maiden test call.
The pace bowling department comprises of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Hardik Pandya. Indian board have included 3 spinners in form of Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar suffered a problem in the back during the 3rd One-day international match at Leeds yesterday and has been ruled out. Jasprit Bumrah who did not play the limited overs version against England is been included. If recovered from the injury, the Indian star pacer will be available for selection from the 2nd test onwards.
India will take on England in the first test match at Edgbaston from 1st August. The 2nd test will be played from 9th August at Lords, followed by the 3rd test at Trent Bridge from 18th August 2018. The squad for the 4th and 5th test will be announced later.
It promises to be a cracking series as India will be looking to win an overseas test series. Under the Virat Kohli captaincy, Team India are currently the number 1 test side and would be looking to perform well in testing conditions.
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Indian Test Squad for first 3 Tests against England: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Pujara, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Rahane, Dinesh Karthik (WK), R Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Karun Nair, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami