Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari have been included in India's squad for the final two tests against England, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Wednesday. Murali Vijay and Kuldeep Yadav were not included in the 18-member side.
Prithvi Shaw earned his maiden test call-up on the back of a string of strong performances for India A, including a knock of 188 against West Indies A last month.
Vihari has been one of the most consistent performers in domestic cricket, averaging 59.79 in 63 first-class matches.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin retained his spot in the squad despite struggling with a hip injury during the third test.
Vijay was dropped after his disappointing show in the first two tests at Edgbaston.
The 34-year-old was replaced by Shikhar Dhawan in the team for the third test which the visitors won to narrow England's lead to 2-1 after three matches of the five-game series.
Wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav was sent home to play for India A team in two four-day matches against Australia A.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee met in Nottingham to pick the Indian Cricket Team for the remaining two Tests of the ongoing five-match Test series against England.
The fourth test begins on Aug. 30 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
India’s squad for the fourth and fifth Tests against England:
Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Hanuma Vihari
The Committee also selected the India A team for the two four-day games against Australia A to be played in Vizag.
India A squad for the two four-day games against Australia A:
Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, R Samarth, A Easwaran, Ankit Bawne, Shubman Gill, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Shahbaz Nadeem, Kuldeep Yadav, K Gowtham, Rajneesh Gurbani, Navdeep Saini, Ankit Rajpoot, Mohd. Siraj
