The BCCI on Tuesday announced the 18 member squad for the first two test matches against England starting on on February 5 in Chennai.
Star batsman and skipper Virat Kohli, who flew back to India on a paternity leave after the first test at Adelaide is back at the helm of affairs.
Ishant Sharma who missed the test series against Australia due to a side strain is fit and is currently representing Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He will lead the pace attack which also comprises of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj,and Brisbane hero Shardul Thakur.
T Natarajan, who claimed three wickets on his Test debut at the Gabba, will be unavailable for this series as he is on paternity leave.
All rounder Hardik Pandya, who only featured in the limited overs series Down Under, also returns to the longest format.
The second test will also be played in Chennai (February 13-17) while Ahmedabad will host the third (February 24-28) and fourth test (March 4-8) respectively.
The four test series will be followed by a five match T20I series and three ODI’s that will conclude on March 28 in Pune.
K S Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar and Priyank Panchal have been named as standby players.
Squad for the first two tests
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar & Axar Patel.
Standby players
K S Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar & Priyank Panchal
Net bowlers:
Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, K Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar.
Test Series fixtures
1st Test- Feb 5-9 at Chennai
2nd Test- Feb 13-17 at Chennai
3rd Test – Feb 24-28 at Ahmedabad (D/N)
4th Test- Mar 4-8 at Ahmedabad
T-20 Series
March 12: 1st T20I at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad
March 14: 2nd T20I at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad
March 16: 3rd T20I at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad
March 18: 4th T20I at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad
March 20: 5th T20I at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad
ODI Series
March 23: 1st ODI at MCA Stadium, Pune
March 26: 2nd ODI at MCA Stadium, Pune
March 28: 3rd ODI at MCA Stadium, Pune
