India have picked an unchanged squad for the first two Tests of the four-match series against Australia, starting February 23. The selection committee, which met on Tuesday in Mumbai, decided to retain the 16-member squad from the one-off Test against Bangladesh, which resulted in a 208-run win.
Chief selector MSK Prasad and his committee had a fairly easy job at hand after India’s dominant home season and there were no surprises in the squad named a day after a big win over Bangladesh.
The only speculation was about the players who have missed several matches of the home season so far due to injury. Mohammed Shami, who got injured during the third Test against England in Mohali, and Rohit Sharma, who missed the last two series due to a thigh injury, do not feature in the squad for the first two matches.
Both Sharma and Shami haven’t played any domestic cricket recently, and in keeping with coach Anil Kumble’s policy, they will have to prove their fitness in match conditions before making it to the team.
The other question mark was over Kuldeep Yadav, the chinaman bowler who was included in the squad for the Bangladesh Test after a knee injury ruled out leg spinner Amit Mishra. However, both Kuldeep and Abhinav Mukund, who replaced Shikhar Dhawan in the Bangladesh Test squad, were retained.
Wriddhiman Saha, who scored a century against Bangladesh, also ensured his place as the lone wicketkeeper in the squad.
The first Test against Australia will be held at Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on February 23, followed by matches in Bengaluru (March 4-8), Ranchi (March 16-20) and Dharamsala (March 25-29).
India squad for first two Tests: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.