After a historic win in the second Test match, the BCCI has announced the squad for the last two matches at Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad. The board has retained 17 of the 18 members that were named for the first two Tests.
Fast bowler Umesh Yadav will join the team in Ahmedabad after his fitness Test for the third and fourth Test against England.
Umesh will replace Shardul Thakur in the squad, and the latter will be released for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. His inclusion also comes in wake of the First pink ball Test between India and England.
“Umesh Yadav will join the team in Ahmedabad and after his fitness assessment will replace Shardul Thakur, who will be released for Vijay Hazare Trophy,” BCCI tweeted.
Umesh Yadav will join the team in Ahmedabad and after his fitness assessment will replace Shardul Thakur, who will be released for Vijay Hazare Trophy.#INDvENG
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 17, 2021
Apart from this, the selection committee has decided to not make any other change in the squad and every other player has been retained who was in the squad for the first two Tests.
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India squad for last two Tests: Virat Kohli (Capt), 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, Md. Siraj.
TEAM – Virat Kohli (Capt), 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, Md. Siraj.
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 17, 2021
The committee has also picked five net bowlers and two players as standbys.
The Committee also picked five net bowlers and two players as standbys.
Net Bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar
Standby players: KS Bharat, Rahul Chahar.#INDvENG
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 17, 2021
The pink-ball Test will be the first international match at the rebuilt Motera stadium, which is the biggest in the world with a capacity of 1,10,000 spectators.
India and England will play the 3rd and the 4th Test at the Sardar Patel Stadium for which 50 percent crowd will be allowed. The 2nd Test in Chennai saw crowds return to the stadium for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 12,000 fans watched the Day 1 action of the 2nd Test from the stands at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.
The victory in Chennai on Tuesday has lifted India to the second position with 69.7 percentage points on the points table but they cannot afford to lose another match as they need to win 2-1 or 3-1 to qualify for the final of the maiden edition of the championship.