India have recalled right-arm fast bowler Umesh Yadav while releasing a string of players to participate in domestic cricket from the squad for the final two Tests against England, to be played in Ahmedabad Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera.
Shardul Thakur is set to go back to his domestic side Mumbai for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy but he will remain with the Indian cricket team in case Umesh fails the fitness Test before joining the team in Ahmedabad. Umesh is making a comeback to the Indian team after sustaining an injury during the second Test match at Sydney last month in Australia.
The Indian selectors announced on Wednesday that Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem who played in the opening Test at Chennai against England and opening batsman Priyank Panchal have been released from this Indian side to go back and play domestic cricket for their respective teams.
At the same time, the Indian team will continue to carry Ankit Rajpoot, Awesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Sourabh Kumar and Krishnappa Gowtham. Andhra wicket-keeper batsman KS Bharat and Rahul Sir have been retained as standby players by the Indian cricket team.
India and England are currently levelled at 1-1 with the hosts bouncing back in the second Test at Chennai to win by a huge margin of 317 runs to level the series. The two teams will be hitting the field again on February 24 at the world’s largest cricket stadium, the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad for their first ever day night Test with the pink cricket ball.
There have been reports that India are likely to rest their talismanic bowler Jasprit Bumrah from the third Test versus England are under pressure to bring back their legendary fast bowler James Anderson after resting him from the second Test.
The upcoming two matches in Ahmedabad will be deciding which team would progress into the final of the ICC world Test championship and play against New Zealand at Lord’s. While Australia are anxiously awaiting a positive outcome—for which they need England to win both the matches for at least draw 2-one—India need to win at least one match and draw the 2nd to ensure that they are there in the final to be played in June.