Ace all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and batsman Hanuma Vihari made a comeback as the All-India Senior Selection Committee of the BCCI announced Team India squad for the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final and the five-match Test series against England.
Notably, both Jadeja and Vihari had endured injuries during the Australia tour earlier this year on Friday.
Meanwhile, opener KL Rahul, who underwent surgery after being diagnosed with appendicitis recently, and wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha, who had returned positive for COVID-19 before the suspension of the 14th edition of the IPL, have also found a place in the squad.
However, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, Navdeep Saini, and Kuldeep Yadav have failed to make a cut in the squad.
The selectors meanwhile, have also selected four standby players in Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, and Arzan Nagwaswalla.
After the WTC final, which will be held from June 19 in Southampton, India will lock horns against hosts England in a five-match Test rubber.
The series will start at Nottingham (Aug 4-8) and will be followed by matches at Lord’s (August 12-16), Leeds (Aug 25-29), Oval (Sep 2-6) and Manchester (Sep 10-14).
Significantly, the BCCI was supposed to announce the squad in June, after the final of the now-suspended IPL 2021 had ended on May 30th however, several COVID-19 positive cases in the bio-bubble led to the postponement of the tournament.
Team India squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).
Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla