BCCI on Friday night announced the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series against Australia. Seamers Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana were called up to the Rohit Sharma-led team which also included rookie wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel. Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini and Khaleel Ahmed were included in the squad as travelling reserves, the ICC release said.
The inclusion of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Abhimanyu Easwaran in the squad also came as a surprise to many.
Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav missed out on the 18-string squad as he has been referred to The BCCI Centre of Excellence for resolving his chronic left groin issue. Yadav is expected to begin his rehabilitations soon after the ongoing New Zealand Test series concludes. Recovering fast bowler Mohammed Shami was also omitted from the squad by the Indian selectors.
After featuring against Sri Lanka in T20Is and ODIs, KKR's Harshit Rana has now received his maiden Test call-up. Interestingly, all three travelling reserves are also fast bowlers.
Bengal captain Abhimanyu Easwaran has been consistent in the domestic circuit in the recent times. The star performer of the Duleep Trophy and Irany Trophy will board the flight to Australia as the third-choice opener with Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Indian Test squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024:
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar
TRAVELLING RESERVES:
Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed