The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday (Jan 12) announced a 15-member squad for the first two Test matches against England with the series taking place later this month. In a big surprise, Ishan Kishan was dropped from the squad with uncapped Dhruv Jurel getting the nod. KL Rahul and KS Bharat have also been included as wicketkeeper options in the squad for the five-match Test series which starts on Thursday (Jan 25).

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India announce squad for England Tests

With the Tests series set to start in less than two weeks, the BCCI named the Indian squad during the ongoing Afghanistan series. Mohammed Shami will be a notable absentee in the squad as he continues his rehabilitation after a serious injury. He missed the South Africa series where India returned with a 1-1 draw. Shami, who recently received the Arjuna Award in New Delhi has not played for India since the ODI World Cup final.

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The squad also features the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, with the former named deputy to captain Rohit Sharma. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav will be the spin options in the squad along with veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin as he continues his quest for 500 Test wickets.

Batting responsibilities will lie on the shoulders of Rohit, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and others. The inclusion of Dhruv Jurel sees him earn his maiden call-up into the squad as India look to get the better of an impressive England side.

The first two Tests will be played in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam before the attention switches to Rajkot for the third Test.

Squad for first two Tests

Rohit Sharma (C ), S Gill, Y Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, S Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan.

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