Jadeja, Rahul return for last three Tests; Kohli unavailable, Iyer not included

New Delhi (Uttam Hindu News): Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have returned to the Indian team for the last three Test matches against England. But the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that Virat Kohli will not be available for the remaining matches due to personal reasons while Shreyas Iyer has not been included.

Kohli missed the first two Tests due to personal reasons and with him not being available for the next three matches, this is the first time that the charismatic right-handed batsman will miss the entire Test series on home soil for his international debut.

“Virat Kohli will not be available for selection for the remainder of the series due to personal reasons,” the BCCI said in a statement on Saturday. The board fully respects and supports Kohli’s decision.”

Although Jadeja and Rahul have been included in the team, BCCI said that their inclusion will depend on the approval of the medical team. Jadeja injured his hamstring while batting in the first Test in Hyderabad, while Rahul complained of pain in his right quadriceps after the end of the game, which India lost by 28 runs.

Iyer, on the other hand, was dropped after scoring 35 and 13 in Hyderabad, followed by 27 and 29 in Visakhapatnam, where he struggled to get going. Several reports said that Iyer had complained of groin and lower back stiffness after the Visakhapatnam Test, which India won by 106 runs.

But BCCI has not given any reason behind excluding Iyer from the Test team. His exclusion means that Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan have retained their places in the team. Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar and fast bowler Avesh Khan have also not got a place in the 17-member Test team.

Mohammed Shami is out of the squad with an ankle injury, while his Bengal state teammate fast bowler Akash Deep has been included in the Test squad for the first time. Deep recently performed impressively for India A in the three-match red-ball series against England Lions, taking 11 wickets at an average of 18.72.

He was part of India’s gold medal-winning team at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year, and was later included in the ODI squad for the series in South Africa in December 2023. Overall, Deep has taken 103 wickets in 29 first-class matches so far.

The five-match Test series is tied at 1-1, with the third Test starting on February 15 in Rajkot. After this, both India and England will go to Ranchi for the fourth Test starting from 23 February. The last match of the series will be held on March 7 in Dharamshala.

India team: Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep