Abhimanyu Iswaran, Saurabh Kumar, and Navdeep Saini were awarded for their outstanding performance against Bangladesh ‘A’ team. All three got a chance in India’s test team due to injuries during the tour of Bangladesh. Besides, Jaydev Unadkat has been added to the squad.
After the ODI series, Mohammad Shami and Ravindra Jadeja were also dropped from the Tests. India’s regular captain Rohit Sharma will not be in the first test. The Indian Cricket Board announced the news in an official press release on Sunday (December 12) evening.
Whether Rohit will join the Indian squad ahead of the second Test in Mirpur is still uncertain. BCCI will inform you about the captain’s return later. Lokesh Rahul will captain in his absence. Experienced batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has been assigned as deputy.
Sourav took a total of 15 wickets including 5 wickets twice in the two four-day matches of the ‘A’ team in Cox’s Bazar and Sylhet. A stormy fifty also comes from his bat in Sylhet. The left-arm A-spinner, who played for Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy, replaced Jadeja as he is still not fully recovered from a knee injury.
Sourav was called up to the Test team for the first time in the series against Sri Lanka in February this year. He did not get a chance to play any match in that series. The 29-year-old cricketer has 237 wickets in 54 first-class matches. 2 centuries with the bat at an average of 1 thousand 776 runs at 29.60.
Abhimanyu Iswaran scored two centuries for the India ‘A’ team in the recent tour of Bangladesh. Iswaran, who led the India ‘A’ team on the tour of Bangladesh, got the opportunity to bat twice in two matches. After 141 runs in the first match, his innings of 157 runs came from his bat in the second. The 27-year-old opener has previously performed for the India ‘A’ team. He has found his place in the Test team before. However, the international debut has not yet taken place. This time he has been taken into the squad as Rohit’s backup.
Saini managed to take a total of 6 wickets in two unofficial Tests. Although this performance is not great in white eyes, the long-bodied pacer gave the host batsmen a tough time with the new ball. He played the last Test in January last year. His last match for the national team was in July of the same year. After almost a year and a half since Shamir entered the Test squad due to injury, he has the chance to return to the international stage.
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Saurabh Kumar recently won the award for a good performance against Bangladesh ‘A’ team for India ‘A’ team. | However, before the official announcement, Iswaran, Saini, and Sourav came to Chittagong after playing the second unofficial test in Sylhet. Iswaran also joined the team’s optional practice at the Zahoor Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Sunday. But Saini and Sourav were in the team hotel.
Unadkat returned to the Test team after 12 years. The left-arm pacer took 19 wickets in 10 matches to help Saurashtra win the Vijay Hazare Trophy, India’s domestic one-day tournament recently. He last played in the red ball in Irani Trophy last October. He took 4 wickets in that match.
Unadkat played the only test of his career on a tour of South Africa in 2010. Later in 2013, he played 7 ODIs for India. After so long, the 31-year-old pacer is facing the prospect of playing for the country again. He is now rich in experience in domestic cricket. He has 353 wickets in 96 first-class matches.
India got back one of the regular teams with many injured replacements. Keeper-batsman Rishav Pant, who returned to the country before the ODI series due to injury, has joined the team in Chittagong.
The first test will be played at Zahoor Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong next Wednesday. After returning to Dhaka, the second test started in Mirpur on December 22.
India’s Changed Test Squad:
Batters: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul (c), Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill & Virat Kohli
Wks: KS Bharat & Rishabh Pant
All-rounders: Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin & Saurabh Kumar
Bowlers: Jaydev Unadkat, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur & Umesh Yadav