Indian Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has been rewarded for his performance in County Championship with a place in the national team for the Fifth Test match against England in July.Â
India‘s Test specialist was dropped post the dismal show in away Tests in South Africa. He had recently been left out for India’s home Test series against Sri Lanka but has been piling on the runs for Sussex in County Cricket.
Pujara scored 720 runs in only 8 innings in County Cricket for Sussex. Though he might find it difficult to walk into the playing XI with Hanuma Vihari and Shubhman Gill in the squad.
Rohit Sharma will lead the side and Virat Kohli also features in the squad. The 17-man squad includes KS Bharat who is retained as second wicket-keeper in place of Wriddhiman Saha. Mayank Aggarwal has also lost his place in the team as well as the pair of Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw who were called in as backups for injury replacements. Ravindra Jadeja who suffered a rib injury in IPL has also been included in the team. Shreyas Iyer who made a century on his Test debut earlier this year takes a middle-order slot ahead of the injured Ajinkya Rahane. There is still no place for the veteran pacer Ishant Sharma who last featured in a test match against New Zealand last year.
India’s Test squad:Â Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc) Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
The rescheduled 5th test match get underway from July 1.
