KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja in, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer ruled out

With the five match Test series currently leveled at 1-1, the BCCI Men’s Selection Committee led by former Indian pacer Ajit Agarkar announced India’s squad for the final three Tests of the IDFC First Bank series against England starting Thursday, 15th February, 2024 in Rajkot. The fourth Test on the other hand kickstarts in Ranchi from 23rd February, 2024. The fifth and final Test of the series will be played in Dharamsala from 7th March, 2024.

The Rohit Sharma led side ably assisted by pacer Jasprit Bumrah will be boosted by the return of wicket keeper batter KL RahuL and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, after the duo had missed out the second Test due to niggling injuries. The participation of both these players will be subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI medical team.

Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer will however have been left out from the 17 member Indian squad. While the former Indian captain and experienced batter Kohli will remain unavailable for selection for the remainder of the series due to personal reasons. Twenty-nine year old stylish middle order batter Iyer who suffered back stiffness during the second Test too will miss the remainder of the series considering the reoccurrence of the same in the last 12 months. Due to which experienced domestic batters Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan will continue to be part of the Indian squad.

Pacer Mohd. Siraj who was rested in the second Test due to workload management will rub shoulders with fellow pacer Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep for a place in the final XI. Incidentally Deep replaced Avesh Khan.

The spin attack will once again be led by veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who is one short of the coveted 500 test wicket mark in the company of Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Jadeja. (Photo courtesy BCCI).

Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul*, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep