Shami still out; Kuldeep sent for rehab as selectors call up Nitish, Harshit and Sundar for BGT series
Mumbai, Oct 25 : Seasoned pacer Mohammed Shami was the notable absentee as the senior men's national selection committee named a strong side for the upcoming five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series in Australia starting on November 22 in Perth. The selectors have given a first opportunity to Indian Premier League (IPL) star Nitish Kumar Reddy and pacer Harshit Rana in the red-ball series.
Shami, who is out of action since last year's 50-over World Cup final due to an injury followed by a surgery, had recently said that though he started bowling but would only like to first play some domestic matches before getting into the national squad.
With Shami absent, the selectors have bolstered the pace attack by including youngsters Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana, who will hope to join Bumrah, Mohd Siraj and Akash Deep in the pace attack in the Test series against Australia which will follow soon after the ongoing home series against New Zealand.
With his recovery delayed, the selectors have decided not to take any chances and left him out of the squad for Australia, instead of hurrying him into action. Pacers Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, and Khaleel Ahmed will be travelling reserves for the five-match series.
In another change, Kuldeep Yadav was not considered as he was unavailable for selection because of his chronic left groin issue. Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar are the three frontline spinners in the squad. His 7-fer in New Zealand's first innings in the Pune Test seems to have turned the tide in favour of Washington Sundar as left-arm spinning allrounder Axar Patel too has not found favour with the selectors.
"Kuldeep Yadav was unavailable for selection for the tour of Australia since he has been referred to The BCCI Centre of Excellence after the end of the ongoing Test series against New Zealand for long-term resolution of his chronic left groin issue," BCCI secretary Jay Shah informed in a release on Friday night.
Rohit Sharma will continue to lead the squad while Jasprit Bumrah, who was named vice-captain for the ongoing Test series against New Zealand, will remain his deputy.
After the completion of the 3-match Test series against New Zealand, India are set to play a 5-match Test series in Australia, part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting 22nd November in Perth.
The selectors have continued with the top-order of Rohit, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill and added Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran and Nitish Kumar Reddy to the mix. Virat Kohli, K.L Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Sarfaraz Khan will continue to compete for the spots in the midfield. The selectors continued to show faith in Rahul despite him being dropped for the second Test against New Zealand in Pune.
India will play Tests at Perth (Nov 22-26, 2024), Adelaide (Dec 6-10), Brisbane (Dec 14-18), Melbourne (Dec 26-30) and Sydney (Jan 3-7, 2-25).
India will be hoping to complete a hat-trick of wins in the Border Gavaskar Trophy series, having won the last two series by an identical 2-1 margin.
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), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed