IND vs ENG: BCCI Announces India Squad For First Two Tests, Leaves Out Ishan Kishan

New Delhi: Ishan Kishan was omitted from the first two Test matches against England as the BCCI announced the squad on Friday night. In the absence of Kishan, 22-year-old Dhruv Jurel received his maiden Test call-up. Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami wasn’t included in the squad, indicating the pacer is yet to fully recover from his heel injury. The first Test between India and England starts on January 25 in Hyderabad.

Rohit Sharma will lead the 16-man side while Jasprit Bumrah will be his deputy. Karnataka pacer Prasidh Krishna was also not considered as he also picked up a left quadricep injury during the Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat on this day. Pace bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur also missed out but left-arm spinner Axar Patel made an expected comeback to the side.

However, the inclusion of Uttar Pradesh player Jurel headlined the selection. He was a part of India A squad that played two matches against their South African counterparts in December last year. He had made a 69 in the second match at Benoni and more recently made a 63 for UP against Kerala in a first round group game of the Ranji Trophy at Alappuzha.

Jurel, who had made his First-Class debut last year against Vidarbha, has so far made 790 runs from 15 matches at an average of 46 with a hundred and five fifties in the domestic circuit. However, KS Bharat could be the first-choice wicketkeeper batter and the selectors have also named KL Rahul for the role.

Rahul had donned the big gloves in the two Test matches against South Africa with a fair amount of success. But it is unlikely that the Bengaluru-man could continue in the role against England as India are certain to field three spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar, a move that warrants a specialist behind the stumps. The second match will be held at Visakhapatnam from February 2.

Squad for first 2 Tests vs England: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan.

With PTI Inputs