India announce squad for last two Tests vs England

Shardul Thakur is the only player who has not been kept from the earlier squad as he will be released to compete in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Shahbaz Nadeem has also been dropped from the stand-by list.

India have named their squad to take on England in the last two matches of the 4-Test series. The last two matches of the series, which is currently tied at 1-1, will be played at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. The third Test – pink-ball Test – will take place at the new Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad from February 24.

India squad: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj.

Shardul Thakur is the only player who has not been kept from the earlier squad as he will be released to compete in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Shahbaz Nadeem has also been dropped from the stand-by list.

The anticipation was around senior pacer Mohammed Shami’s fitness and it has been learnt that he is still not 100 percent fit for the rigours of five-day games.

Umesh Yadav will join the team in Ahmedabad and after his fitness assessment will replace Shardul Thakur, who will be released for Vijay Hazare Trophy.

The Committee also picked five net bowlers, namely, Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar. The two players as standbys will be KS Bharat, Rahul Chahar.

The pink-ball Test will be the first international match at the rebuilt Motera stadium, which is the largest in the world with a capacity of 1,10,000 spectators.