The senior selection committee for the Indian national cricket team announced the squad for India’s upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka. The selectors have opted for a revamp after a disappointing tour of South Africa. As a part of the revamp, veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been dropped from the team. However, the series loss in the rainbow nation was not the precise reason for this overhaul. The players dropped from the side have been suffering from poor form for a long time. Apart from Pujara and Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha have also been let go of. Here is India’s squad for Sri Lanka tests.
India’s squad for sri lanka tests
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, R Ashwin (subject to fitness), R Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar.
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Rohit Sharma declared the all-format captain of India
The chairman of the selection committee, Chetan Sharma, put an end to all the speculations regarding Kohli’s successor in test cricket. In a surprising development around Indian cricket, Virat Kohli announced his resignation from the Test captain’s post on the 15th of January 2022. Since then, the debate on the next Indian test captain kept doing the rounds on social media. The players and the selectors were tight-lipped on the questions regarding this; But sooner or later, a decision had to be made.
While it was already speculated that Rohit will take over the reigns from Virat, what comes as a major update is the decision to hand the vice-captaincy to Jasprit Bumrah. The absence of KL Rahul might have led the selectors to take this decision, but it was, indeed, surprising. Jasprit is often provided the necessary breaks because of his workload, and Rishabh Pant is the only player who consistently features in India’s starting 11. Certainly, Rishabh could have been handed the vice-captaincy.
Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara Dropped
The senior pros of the Indian team, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have been dropped for the side after their never-ending string of failures with the bat. Ever since his heroics in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2018-19, Pujara has struggled to reach the three-figure mark. In the last 27 tests he has played, he has not been able to score even a single century. While the captain of the Indian test team that created history in Australia last year has also been dropped. Since that historic Gabba test match, Rahane has played 13 test matches for India and has averaged just 20.
With the emergence of Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari, the selectors have decided to move on. The long rope for two of the finest test batsmen of India has finally come to an end.
selectors let go of Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha
The fifth-highest wicket-taker for India in test cricket, Ishant Sharma, has been relinquished from the side. Along with Ishant, the 37 years old Wriddhiman Saha has also been left out of the squad. In all sorts of ways, Ishant and Saha have played their last test match for India. Saha is not getting any younger with time and with youngsters like Srikar Bharat and Ishan Kishan waiting in the wings, Saha’s departure from the squad was inevitable. Whereas, Ishant wasn’t in the best of forms all this while. Since January 2021, Ishant had grabbed just 14 wickets from 8 matches. The competition was increasing day-by-day for the Delhi lad with the emergence of Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, and many other pacers.
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Kuldeep Yadav makes a comeback while Saurabh Kumar earns his maiden call-up
Talking to the press, Rohit Sharma has indicated multiple times that he wants Kuldeep to make a comeback for India. As a part of Rohit’s plans, Kuldeep has returned to the Indian Test squad as well. Kuldeep Yadav last played a test match for India against England in February last year.
Meanwhile, Kuldeep’s teammate from Uttar Pradesh, Saurabh Kumar, has earned his maiden call-up for the Indian national team. The left-arm spinner from Baghpat has 196 first-class wickets to his name at a brilliant average of approximately 24. He has been rewarded for his consistent performances in the domestic circuit. Saurabh will serve as Jadeja’s backup as Axar Patel is unavailable for the series due to an injury.
As indicated above, Ravindra Jadeja is making a comeback in the Indian test team after a long layoff due to an injury. Apart from him, Shubhman Gill is the other player to join the squad after a long time. Meanwhile, Jadeja’s partner Ravichandran Ashwin has also been named in the squad. However, Ashwin’s inclusion is subject to fitness. By the time, the first test match in Mohali arrives, we will surely get more updates about Ashwin’s fitness.
The test series will begin on the 4th of March in Mohali. The first test match of the series will also be Kohli’s 100th test match. Teams then travel to Bengaluru for the second test match of the series which starts on the 12th of March. As per the official news from the BCCI, the Bengaluru test match will be a day-night affair.
