Umesh Yadav
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced India's squad for the last two Tests against England. The board has retained the entire squad while Umesh Yadav is set to join his teammates with the condition of passing the fitness test.
Umesh had limped off with a calf injury during the second Test against Australia in December and was ruled out of the Test series and the first two Tests against England. Having recovered, he will now have to clear the fitness test in Ahmedabad to reclaim his spot in the squad, replacing Shardul Thakur.
"Umesh Yadav will join the team in Ahmedabad and after his fitness assessment will replace Shardul Thakur, who will be released for Vijay Hazare Trophy," BCCI said in their statement.
Squad for the last two Tests: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj.
The Committee also picked five net bowlers and two players as standbys.
Net Bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar
Standby players: KS Bharat, Rahul Chahar.
BCCI, however, released Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem and Priyank Panchal for Vijay Hazare Trophy.
India scripted a series-levelling win in Chennai on Monday with a 317-run win in the second Test after England won the opener last week.
The third Test will be played at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad which will be a day-night contest, starting February 24.
