The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday (Feb 10) announced the squad for the remaining three matches of the five-match Test series against England with Virat Kohli being a prime exclusion. Virat, who missed the opening two matches will continue to miss the rest of the series with BCCI giving full support to the former India captain. While Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul are included in the squad but will have to await medical clearance from the team before stepping back on the field for the third Test in Rajkot which starts on Thursday (Feb 15).
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The BCCI on Saturday officially confirmed Virat’s exclusion from the squad for the remainder of the series. The 35-year-old will miss the series due to personal reasons which means he will have to wait longer to complete 2000 Test runs against England. With 1991 runs, Virat had a golden opportunity to get into the 2000-run club by scoring 52 runs and make England his favourite Test opponent.
Another exclusion from the squad is Shreyas Iyer. A back strain has put him out of action for the majority of 2022 and 2023. He also missed the World Test Championship (WTC) final and the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season due to a back problem. He is expected to return to action during the IPL 2024 season.
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Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul continue to rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru but are included in the squad for the remaining matches. However, their inclusion in the Playing XI will come after a clearance from the medical team. While Jadeja is expected to be fully fit for the fourth Test in Ranchi, Rahul could be available for the Rajkot Test starting Thursday.
Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul*, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep
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