Seamer Mohammed Shami will not play in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series against Australia while spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also been sidelined with a groin injury.
Shami, who has not played for India since the 2023 one-day World Cup due to an ankle injury, has not been named in the Rohit Sharma-led touring party for the five-match Test series starting on November 22 in Perth.
India have opted for Akash Deep as a third seamer in the 18-player squad behind Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj while spinner Kuldeep will miss the Test series due to a chronic left groin issue.
“Kuldeep Yadav…has been referred to the BCCI Centre of Excellence after the end of the ongoing Test series against New Zealand for long-term resolution of his chronic left groin issue,” the BCCI said in a statement.
India’ squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.
India have included three spinning allrounders in Ashwin, Jadeja and Sundar.
With skipper Rohit reportedly likely to miss one of the first two Tests for personal reasons, 29-year-old opener Abhimanyu could make his Test debut on the back of strong domestic form.
Of the back-up seamers, India have had high hopes for the tall, quick and whippy Prasidh Krishna for some time in an injury-marred career, while unproven Harshit Rana had an impressive IPL campaign.
Reddy is a bolter selection, a 21-year-old seam bowling all-rounder who shone for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL under skipper Pat Cummins.
India also announced the Twenty20 international squad for their four-match T20 series against South Africa, starting on November 8 in Durban.
All-rounder Ramandeep Singh, pace bowler Vijaykumar Vyshak, and left-arm seamer Yash Dayal have received their maiden T20I call-ups in the side led by captain Suryakumar Yadav.
All-rounder Riyan Parag has been left out of the squad due to a right shoulder injury while pacer Mayank Yadav and all-rounder Shivam Dube were also unavailable for selection owing to injuries, the BCCI said.
India’ squad for T20Is against South Africa: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.
Content Source: www.perthnow.com.au