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Shami still not fit
Mohammed Shami was not named in the squad as he is continuing his recovery process from an injury that he suffered during the ODI World Cup 2023.
Shami was also not a part of the India squad that toured South Africa in December-January.
Dhruv gets maiden call-up
The inclusion of Uttar Pradesh player Jurel headlined the selection.
The 22-year-old was a part of India A squad that played two matches against their South African counterparts in December last year.
He had made a 69 in the second match at Benoni and more recently made a 63 for UP against Kerala in a first round group game of the Ranji Trophy at Alappuzha.
Jurel, who had made his First-Class debut last year against Vidarbha, has so far made 790 runs from 15 matches at an average of 46 with a hundred and five fifties in the domestic circuit.
KL and KS - the other two keepers
However, KS Bharat could be the first-choice wicketkeeper batter and the selectors have also named KL Rahul for the role.
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Rahul had donned the big gloves in the two Test matches against South Africa with a fair amount of success.
But it is unlikely that the Bengaluru-man could continue in the role against England as India are certain to field three spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar, a move that warrants a specialist behind the stumps.
the second match will be held at Visakhapatnam from February 2.
India squad for first Two Tests vs England
England squad for Tests vs India
Ben Stokes (Durham – captain),Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Tom Hartley (Lancashire), Jack Leach (Somerset), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Mark Wood (Durham)
England’s Tour of India, 2023-24 – Test series | ||||
Sr. No. | Date | Match | Time (IST) | Venue |
1 | 25th – 29th January | 1st Test | Hyderabad | |
2 | 2nd – 6th February | 2nd Test | Vizag | |
3 | 15th – 19th February | 3rd Test | Rajkot | |
4 | 23rd – 27th February | 4th Test | Ranchi | |
5 | 7th – 11th March | 5th Test | Dharamsala |