Veteran India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar made a stunning return to first-class cricket after six years, picking his 13th five-for in the domestic against Bengal in the ongoing Ranji Trophy match in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. His compatriot from Karnataka, lanky Prasidh Krishna, picked up a left quadriceps injury during day one against Gujarat in Ahmedabad.

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After being asked to bat first on a green top in Kanpur, Bengal dismissed UP on just 60, with India pacer Mohammed Shami’s younger brother Mohammed Kaif picking for four 14 in 5.5 overs.

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Bhuvneshwar began his magic show with the new ball, returning with bowling figures of five for 25 in 13 overs, including three maidens. Bhuvi, as most fans in India call him, last played a Test against South Africa in 2018. Against Bengal, he first accounted for Sourav Paul (13) and Sudip Gharami (0) in the space of three balls before returning to pick Anustup Majumdar (12), captain Manoj Tiwary (3) and Abhishek Porel (12) in the same spell.

Meanwhile, at stumps on day one, Bengal’s scorecard read 95 for five, with opener Sayan Gosh batting at 37 off 87 balls. 

Krishna injured on Ranji return

After making his Test debut against South Africa at the SuperSport Park in Centurion, Prasidh Krishna injured his leg on his return to Ranji Trophy cricket in India. The seamer hobbled off the field after bowling 14.5 overs, during which he picked wickets of Manan Hingrajia and Siddharth Desai as Karnataka bundled out Gujarat on 264 in 88 overs.

Although Krishna is getting treated under the Karnataka team physio’s wings, with him being a contracted BCCI player, he can also link up with the India-A support staff in Ahmedabad for the two-day practice game against the touring England Lions. 

India name squad for first two England Tests

On Friday night, the BCCI named a 16-man squad for the first two Tests against England, starting January 25 in Hyderabad. 

Rohit Sharma continues to lead the team, with Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and the spin-bowling all-rounders Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja also picked. 

While Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav have also been named on the squad, seasoned seamer Shami misses out due to injury.

The Indian Cricket Board also picked keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, while KL Rahul and KS Bharat were also named.

Here is the squad –

Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain) and Avesh Khan

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