On Wednesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Indian squad for the last two Tests against England, starting with the Day-Night match at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad from February 24.
India registered a record win over England in the second Test at Chennai’s Chepauk Stadium to level the four-match series.
Fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who missed India’s last two Tests against Australia due to a strained calf muscle, has returned to the squad and will replace Shardul Thakur after fitness assessment. Shardul has been released for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy.
After Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy’s success, the BCCI is now set to organize its most prominent 50-over tournament from February 20 till March 14.
Meanwhile, former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly have confirmed that the third Test tickets are ‘completely sold out’.
Speaking on Star Sports, Ganguly expressed his happiness over the return of spectators at the cricket stadiums. He said that BCCI wanted to see all the seats and stands full at the newly-built Motera Cricket Stadium.
“Ahmedabad is completely sold out. I speak to Jay Shah, and he’s very keen on these Test matches. Just for him also cricket is coming back to Ahmedabad after six-seven years because they built the new stadium, and I have told him we have set an example with pink-ball Test last year in Kolkata, so it cannot go beyond that and we want to see every seat and stand full. And that’s what it is, the tickets have gone, as well as for the T20s which will follow the Tests.
“We wanted the fans back. We could have had them in the first Test in Chennai but we decided to go with the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, who said let’s see how it goes for the first one because it’s our first game after a long time and we’ll open it up for the second Test. I know the Gujarat Cricket Association will add a bit more to the cricket, not just with the game but a lot of other things around the game. It’s going to be a great Test match for everyone.”
Here’s India squad for the remaining two Tests against England:
Virat Kohli (c), 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, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav (subject to fitness clearance).
Standby players: KS Bharat, Rahul Chahar
Net Bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar.
