The BCCI announced a 16-member India squad for the first two test matches at home against England. Dhruv Jurel has earned his maiden call-up as a wicketkeeper along with KL Rahul returning to the side. These test matches are a part of the ICC 2023-25 World Test championship cycle.
Rohit Sharma will lead the squad and hope to give a flying start. Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Dhruv Jurel would be the middle-order batters for the series. KS Bharat has been added as another wicketkeeping, with KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel.
The Indian team has four top-quality spin options: Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel. Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Axar Patel are the three all-round options. Out of these four spinners, three out of them can play if the pitches help spinners.
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan, and Mukesh Kumar would be the pace bowling options. Depending upon the conditions, Bumrah or Siraj can feature in playing XI. It promises to be an exciting series as India will look to continue their domination over England on Indian soil.
The first test match of the series will be played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad from 25th January onwards while the 2nd test will take place at Vizag from 2nd February to 6th February. Indian team would look to garner points from these matches and stake a claim for their 3rd successive ICC World Test championship finals.
Rohit Sharma and Co showed great courage to win the second Test match at Cape Town by 7 wickets to register their first victory after a gap of 31 years.
India squad for the first two Test matches against England:
Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan.
Schedule of first two Test matches against England:
- Ind vs England (Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad)- 25th-29th January 2024
- Ind vs Eng (ADCA VDCA Stadium, Vizag)- 2nd– 6th February 2024.
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