KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja have been named in India’s squad for the final three Tests against England having nursed the quadriceps and hamstring injuries respectively that kept them out of the Test in Visakhapatnam. However, the BCCI clarified that their participation will be subject to clearance from the medical team.
The pair bring dollops of experience back to an Indian side that is missing its star performers Virat Kohli and Mohammad Shami. The other key absentee will be Shreyas Iyer in the middle order. The 29-year-old complained of back stiffness during the second Test and has now been ruled out of the rest of the series. Both Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan have managed to retain their spots, as a result.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj, who was rested from the second Test in Visakhapatnam, has been picked. While Mukesh Kumar has held onto his spot, Avesh Khan has been released and in his place, the selection committee has selected Akash Deep. Following Jadeja’s return, Saurabh Kumar has been released as well.
The third Test of the series, currently locked at 1-1, starts on February 15 in Rajkot.
India squad for the final three Tests: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rajat Patidar, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep