Virat Kohli to lead India for England Tests, Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya return

The BCCI on Tuesday announced India's squad for first two Tests against England starting February 5 in Chennai, with first two games both taking place at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Virat Kohli will return as the skipper of the Indian side as all-rounder Hardik Pandya and pacer Ishant Sharma return.

Hardik Pandya has been named in the Test squad for the first time since 2018, while skipper Kohli returns after his paternity leave for the birth of their first child, which was born on January 11. Ishant, who missed out on the Australian tour, has been bowling well in the Domestic T20 competition, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy playing for Delhi as he has taken five wickets in four matches.

Both the wicketkeepers Rishabh Pant and Wriddhiman Saha have kept their places, while debutant Washington Sundar and bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur have been rewarded for their stupendous performance in the just concluded Brisbane Test. 

The selection committee comprising of Chairman of Selectors, Chetan Sharma and the other four members Sunil Joshi, Abey Kuruvilla, Debashish Mohanty and Harvinder Singh (from Brisbane), met skipper Virat Kohli virtually to discuss the selections. The body retained the openers from the SCG and Brisbane Test, but Prithvi Shaw had to face the ouster after poor returns in the Adelaide Test.

NEWS - The All-India Senior Selection Committee met on Tuesday to pick the squad for the first two Test matches to be played at Chennai against England.#INDvENG

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 19, 2021

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will continue to bat at the top of the order, with Mayank as the third opener. while Mohammed Siraj has also been rewarded for his 13 wickets on the Australian tour.

All-rounder Axar Patel has also been named in the squad for the first two Tests, while batsman KL Rahul will be available from the second game after recovering from his left wrist injury, which he suffered during the nets before the third Test in Sydney.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin too returns after he had tweaked his back in the SCG game as he will lead the spin attack along with Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar along with Patel. Alongside Ishant, Bumrah also returns, as far as the pace-attack is concerned with Thakur and Siraj being the other two fast bowlers as left-armer T Natarajan, who was in the side as a net bowler in the first place, has missed out on the place in the squad after making his debut at the Gabba.

TEAM - Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya (VC), KL Rahul, Hardik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 19, 2021

Hanuma Vihari, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja all four who have been nursing their injuries have been given time to recover and weren't named in the squads.

Apart from the selected 18 players, BCCI have also announced a few players as stand-byes. The All-India selection committee has named Andhra wicket-keeper batsman KS Bharat, Bengal batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran, Jharkhand left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, Rajasthan leg-spinner Rahul Chahar and Gujarat batsman Priyank Panchal.

As is the norm in the COVID world that we all are living in, the committee has also named five net bowlers, which includes three pace bowlers and two spinners. Madhya Pradesh pacer Avesh Khan, Uttar Pradesh pacer Ankit Rajpoot and spinner Saurabh Kumar, Kerala pacer (who now plays for Tamil Nadu) Sandeep Warrier and Karnataka spin all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham, were all-named as the net-bowlers for the first two Tests against England.

The Committee also picked five net bowlers and five players as standbys.

Net Bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar

Standby players: K S Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar, Priyank Panchal#INDvENG

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 19, 2021

India's squad for first two Tests: Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur

Net Bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar

Standby players: K S Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar, Priyank Panchal