Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav missed out, while Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Abhimanyu Easwaran were picked as India announced an 18-member squad for the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Test series, with the first of the five matches starting on November 22 in Perth.
Alongside Shami and Kuldeep, Axar Patel is another regular Test player who has been omitted from the squad. Washington Sundar, having made a remarkable return in the ongoing Pune Test, has been chosen over Axar, while Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have kept their spots in the squad.
As far as Kuldeep is concerned, the BCCI’s media release stated that he was unavailable for selection due to a left groin issue. Interestingly, while the BCCI provided an update on Kuldeep, no details were shared regarding Shami’s absence.
After impressing first in the Duleep Trophy and then in the Irani Cup 2024, Easwaran has been selected as the back-up opener. There are no surprises regarding the middle order –
Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, and Dhruv Jurel, all part of the current New Zealand series, have retained their places.
However, there is a surprise in the pace department. Harshit earned his maiden Test call-up, while Prasidh Krishna was recalled due to his ability to hit the deck and extract bounce from the wicket, which will be required in Australia.
Harshit has received the call-up following an impressive showing in the Duleep Trophy, where he took eight wickets in two outings. Uncapped Nitish Reddy is the only seam-bowling all-rounder in the squad.
Axar and Yash Dayal, another Test hopeful, will travel to South Africa for the four-match T20I series starting on November 8 in Durban.
India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
India’s squad for 4 T20Is against South Africa: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.