The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named the 16-man squad for the first two Test matches of the five-match series between India and England, which will begin on 25th of January. The talking point was the inclusion of Dhruv Jurel, who was called up to the national team while Ishan Kishan and Mohammed Shami were left out.

While Mohammed Shami is still to regain full fitness, another seamer, Prasidh Krishna, wasn’t named in the squad either. Avesh Khan was roped in after showcasing his flair against the South African A team.

This is going to be India’s third assignment in the ongoing World Test Championship after they secured the opening chapter against West Indies while drawing the Test series with South Africa. The last two WTC cycles have seen India finishing as the runners-up, losing out to New Zealand in the opening edition while faltering to Australia in the following one.

The mainstays of the side feature the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah while the likes of Avesh Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal will be hoping to prove a point.

Indian squad for two opening Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan