Ishan Kishan has earned his maiden Test call-up as Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Test squad for upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting February 9. In-form Suryakumar Yadav has also earned his place in the 17-member Test squad for the first two Tests.
Ravindra Jadeja has returned to the Test side as well. However, Jadeja’s participation in the Test series is subject to fitness. Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah is yet to regain full fitness and is missing from the squad.
In the absence of Rishabh Pant who got injured in a car accident last month, Kishan who hit a double century in his last ODI appearance has been included. However, KS Bharat is likely to be the first choice wicketkeeper against the Pat Cummins-led side when India take the field on February 9 at Nagpur.
After an impressive Test return on Bangladesh soil, Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat has retained his place in the side. On the other hand, this is not the first time Suryakumar has been included in the Test squad. Last year, he along with Prithvi Shaw were included in the Test squad against England.
India need to win three out of four Tests against Australia to solidify their place in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final. They are currently placed second on the WTC table with a win percentage of 68.93 with eight wins from 14 Tests. Australia are on top with 75.56 win percentage as they have 10 wins from 15 Tests and just one loss.
Against Bangladesh, KL Rahul led India to 2-0 win as skipper Rohit Sharma injured his thumb in the ODI series against Litton Das-led side.
India’s Test squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav
Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 schedule
1st Test at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur - February 9-13
2nd Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi - February 17-21
3rd Test at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala - March 1-5
4th Test at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad - March 0-13
