The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday night announced the squad for the first two Tests of the four-match series against Australia.
Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will miss the opening two red-ball games, while Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have been rewarded for their form with the bat as they received maiden call-ups in the Test squad.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who is currently recovering from his knee injury, has also been included in the squad, but his participation will be subject to fitness.
Skipper Rohit Sharma is back to lead the team after missing the two Tests against Bangladesh last month. He has recovered from his finger injury. KL Rahul will be Rohit’s deputy in the Australia Tests.
To make way for Rohit, Jadeja, Suryakumar, Ishan and Shami, five players – Rishabh Pant, Navdeep Saini, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Saurabh Kumar and Shardul Thakur – had to lose their spots. Pant will be a long-term absentee from domestic as well as international cricket as he suffered multiple injuries in an unfortunate road accident that he met while going to his hometown Roorkee on December 30, 2022.
The first Test between India and Australia will begin in Nagpur on February 9.
India squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.
