Dhruv Jurel earns surprising Test call up as India’s squad for first two Tests vs England is announced

Team India announced its sixteen-member squad for the first two Test versus England. Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam are set to host the opening two games of the five-match series. In a surprising move, Dhruv Jurel has been selected in the team as a wicketkeeper in place of Ishan Kishan. 

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Rohit Sharma is the captain of the side and Jasprit Bumrah has been named his deputy. Fast bowler Mohammed Shami hasn’t been named owing to his injury which hasn’t healed yet. The team also has four frontline spinners Ashwin and Jadeja along with Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. 

Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan have been included in the team, Prasidh Krishna who was part of the South African series has been dropped for the initial few games.

Ishan Kishan snubbed for first Two Test vs England –

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Young wicketkeeper and batter Ishan Kishan has been snubbed by the Indian Cricket selectors. The 25-year-old had pulled out of the South African Test series citing mental fatigue and flown back to India.  22-year-old Dhruv Jurel has been named to the Indian team along with KS Bharat. It was already announced that KL Rahul will focus on his batting and will not don the gloves.

KS Bharat replaced Ishan Kishan during the tour of South Africa and will likely be the first-choice gloves man. Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer have been retained in the team despite their below-par performances recently. It was believed that veteran duo Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane could earn a recall to the Indian team.

Abhimanyu Eeswaran is yet another player who has been left out despite being in the mix. It was reported that the Bengal opener could be a backup option with Ruturaj Gaikwad still not fit.

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Jasprit Bumrah will be the vice-captain of the side ahead of a rare Test series at home. It is expected that Siraj and Bumrah will lead the new-ball attack. Avesh Khan is part of the 16-man squad after being flown in for the Cape Town Test. The 27-year-old will be a backup along with 30-year-old Mukesh Kumar.

Indian squad for first two Tests versus England –

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan.