The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the first Two test match of the five-match series against England on Wednesday. Hardik Pandya, who made his ODI debut against New Zealand, has been called-up in the test squad. KL Rahul, who is still not recovering from the injury, has not been included. Indian star opener Gautam Gambhir regained his opening slot in Test.
When reporters asked about the inclusion of Hardik Pandya, MSK Prasad said,“In case we want to play three spinners Pandya is a better bowling option than Stuart Binny (or Rishi Dhawan) at the moment.”
Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the first two test matches due to injury. Ishant Sharma, who was suffered from Chikungunya during New Zealand series, has been named in the Test squad.
The first match is to be played at Rajkot on November 9. Rajkot will host the first ever test match in cricket history. Visakhapatnam, Mohali, Mumbai and Chennai will host the other four matches.
India squad for first two test against England: Virat Kohli (capt), R Ashwin, Gautam Gambhir, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Karun Nair, M Vijay, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav