BCCI’s Selection Committee has selected the Test team against Sri Lanka that will start from the 4th of March at Mohali.
The second Test at Bengaluru will be a pink-ball Test match.
The team has axed senior players such as Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha and Ishant Sharma.
Chetan Sharma has already had a conversation with all four of them and has told them to spend some time playing Ranji Trophy and when they perform better in the domestic circuit, then they can always come back to the national side.
Rohit Sharma is the captain and Jasprit Bumrah will be his deputy in Tests as well.
Chetan Sharma said that Rohit was the obvious choice for captain.
He further said that he had a talk with Rohit in which the latter agreed to become India’s Test captain.
The selection committee now wants Rohit to play for a long time for India and that he will also groom new captains under him.
Saurabh Kumar comes in place for Axar Patel who is recovering. Saurabh plays for Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy.
Priyank Panchal also comes into the side after his brilliant performance against South Africa.
Ravindra Jadeja comes back but his partner Ravichandran Ashwin doesn’t.
Kuldeep Yadav makes a comeback to the Test squad after a long time. He last played against England in Chennai but since then has not been given a chance.
KS Bharat replaces Wriddhiman Saha while Shubman Gill also makes a return after recovering from his elbow injury.
Washington Sundar, KL Rahul and Shardul Thakur will not be a part of this series as the former two are recovering from injuries while the latter has been rested.
India’s Test squad against Sri Lanka
Rohit Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin (subject to fitness), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar.
