The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have named the squad for the first 2 Tests of the five-match series against England, beginning on January 25th in Hyderabad. Uncapped keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel has earned his maiden call-up to the Test squad, while Jasprit Bumrah will deputise for Rohit Sharma in the series.
Jurel impressed for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2023 with his cameos, but has an equally promising first-class record in his 15 appearances. The 22-year-old averages 46.47 with the bat, scoring 790 runs, headlined by a best of 249. Nevertheless, KS Bharat could still take the gloves for the first 2 Tests. Ishan Kishan remains out of favour, with the BCCI reportedly miffed about his trip to Dubai for the requested break.
Mohammed Shami continues his recovery from the ankle injury that kept him out of the South Africa tour, but is likely to be included for the remaining 3 matches. Shreyas Iyer warmed himself up for the Test series with a run-a-ball 48 for Mumbai on Friday in the Ranji Trophy encounter against Andhra Pradesh.
Hence, with Yashasvi Jaiswal likely to open the innings with skipper Rohit Sharma, it will likely be a toss-up between Shubman Gill and Iyer.
Team India squad for first 2 Tests:
Rohit Sharma (C ), S Gill, Y Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, S Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan.
Ben Stokes-led England look to stop India's juggernaut at home:
England announced their Test squad last year and have picked 4 specialist spinners, including two uncapped. With the Englishmen adopting an aggressive approach since all-rounder Ben Stokes Stokes became the Test captain, the India tour will prove as a stern test for him, having yet to lose a series.
The visitors took a lead in the 2021 series in India, but went on to lose the next three to concede the series 3-1 as Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin ran riot. However, England were also the last team to beat India in a Test series in their backyard when Alastair Cook's men did so in 2012.
