Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have announced the squad for the first two Tests of the four-match series against Australia.
BCCI retained the same India cricket team squad that had featured in the Bangladesh Test in Hyderabad. Rohit Sharma and Amit Mishra were not considered for selection.
Rohit Sharma will get a chance to prove his fitness for the Tests in Ranchi & Dharamsala as he plays the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Mumbai. Mohammed Shami & Amit Mishra will also get a chance to showcase their fitness.
Kuldeep Yadav is a very skilful spinner and he was a star performer for his side in the domestic season 2016-17. His left-arm chinaman will add more variety in the bowling attack.
India are going to play three out of the four Tests against Australia in new venues. The series will commence from February 23 & the first match is scheduled to held at the MCA Stadium, Pune.
Indian squad for the first two tests: Virat Kohli (c), M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, W Saha (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund and Hardik Pandya