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Left-arm fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat has been added to the Indian Test squad for the two-match series against Bangladesh. Unadkat, who powered Saurashtra to the Vijay Hazare Trophy triumph recently, has been called up as a replacement for Mohammed Shami – ruled out of the series due to a bowling arm stress.
Unadkat’s only appearance so far in the longest format was almost exactly 12 years ago, as a teenager straight out of India Under 19 side, in the first Test of the 2010-11 tour of South Africa. In that Test, in Centurion, he finished with figures of none for 101 as India lost by an innings and 25 runs.
Meanwhile, there are chances of regular skipper Rohit Sharma joining the squad ahead of second Test (December 22-26). He suffered a ‘blow on his left thumb’ during the second ODI in Dhaka on December 7. In the first Test (December 14-18), KL Rahul will be leading the side.
Abhimanyu Easwaran, who led India A in the two-match series against Bangladesh, has been named as a cover for Rohit in the first Test.
India’s likely squad for the first Test:
KL Rahul (c), Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk, vc), KS Bharat (wk), Saurabh Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav.
