Indian squad announced for first three Tests

The Indian tour will be entering its last leg, the 5-match Test series starting from August 1.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced an 18-member squad for the first 3 matches of the forthcoming Test series against England.

Leading Indian pacer Bhuvneshawar Kumar have not been included in the squad due to injury. His condition is being assessed and soon a call on his inclusion in the Test squad will be made soon.

Bumrah, who was earlier ruled out of T20I and ODI series due to injury which he picked during the 1st T20I against Ireland on June 27, is back in the squad. 

The same thing goes with wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha who couldn’t even play the historic Test against Afghanistan. He was injured during the IPL 2018 and hasn’t recovered yet.

On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik has yet again been included in the squad who will replace Saha in the Test series. Youngster Rishabh Pant has also been included in the squad following his match-winning performance against the West Indies ‘A’ in the second unofficial Test. He will also play the role of a backup wicketkeeper.

Here’s the squad:

Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Shami, Karun Nair, Shardul Thakur, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav

TEAM NEWS: #TeamIndia for the first three Tests against England announced #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/kKJYz1MZ8B

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 18, 2018

India started their Tour of England with winning the 3-match T20I series 2-1 against England. However, they failed to continue their performance in the ODIs. They not only lost the series but their unbeaten streak of 9 consecutive ODI series victory came to an end as well.

After these two series, the Indian tour will be entering its last leg, the 5-match Test series starting from August 1.

Here's is the complete schedule:

1st Test: August 1, Edgbaston, Birmingham

2nd Test: August 9, Lord's, London

3rd Test: August 18, Trent Bridge, Nottingham

4th Test: August 30, The Rose Bowl, Southampton

5th Test: September 7, Kennington Oval, London