Indian squad for England series named
The MSK Prasad led selection committee met on 2 November 2016 to pick India's squad for the first two test matches against England. The Indian team has seen a lot of injuries during the series against New Zealand, which led to many changes in the squad. The selectors have added new faces to the team giving young cricketers a chance in the test squad.
England to tour India for test, ODI and T20 series
England's cricket team will be on a long tour of India to play five test matches, three ODIs and three T20 matches. The tour will start from November 2016 and is set to go on till February 2017. The first test will be played from 9 November at Rajkot, while the last T20 match between the two nations will take place on 1 February.
Fitness concerns for India's top batting order
Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the series after he badly hurt his thigh during the fifth ODI against NZ at Vishakhapatnam. K L Rahul was rested after first test against NZ due to an injured hamstring. Shikhar Dhawan fractured his thumb during the second test against NZ. Both Rahul and Dhawan are recovering at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
The current squad
The current line up consists Virat Kohli (C), Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Karun Nair, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma.
Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav get test call
Hardik Pandya, who made his ODI debut against New Zealand in October 2016 has been picked up by the selectors for his maiden test. He has played four ODI matches and 16 T20 matches. Selectors have also named Jayant Yadav and Karun Nair in the 15-member squad for the first two tests. Yadav is an off-spinner wile Nair is a right handed batsman.
Gambhir retained, recovered Ishant comes back too
Gautam Gambhir, who was called back to the test team against New Zealand has been retained for the England series. Delhi pacer Ishant Sharma has recovered from chikungunya and has also returned to the Indian team.
