All-rounder Hardik Pandya and wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav have been excluded from India's squad for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand.
Batsman Hanuma Vihari, fast bowler Mohammed Shami and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja have been recalled.
Wicketkeeper-batsmen KL Rahul and Wriddhiman Saha have been included subject to fitness tests. Rahul and Saha are nursing injury and illness, respectively.
India Squad for WTC Final
- Virat Kohli (captain)
- Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain)
- Rohit Sharma
- Shubman Gill
- Mayank Agarwal
- Cheteshwar Pujara
- Hanuma Vihari
- Rishabh Pant
- Ravichandran Ashwin
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Axar Patel
- Washington Sundar
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Ishant Sharma
- Mohammed Shami
- Mohammed Siraj
- Shardul Thakur
- Umesh Yadav
- KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance)
- Wriddhiman Saha (subject to fitness clearance)
The same squad will contest the five-Test series against England. The World Test Championship final is scheduled to start in Southampton on 18 June 2021. India's series against England is due to begin on 4 August.
Vihari in the United Kingdom
While several stars were involved in the Indian Premier League recently, Vihari was playing first-class cricket for Warwickshire in the County Championship in the United Kingdom.
He struck 100 runs in six innings, with a highest score of 52 against Essex.
Nagwaswalla a Reserve
Left-arm seamer Arzan Nagwaswalla has been named among the standby players. He represents Gujarat at domestic level and has been in relatively fine form recently.
Nagwaswalla was particularly impressive en route to a four-wicket haul against Andhra in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in early March 2021.
Standby players
- Abhimanyu Easwaran
- Prasidh Krishna
- Avesh Khan
- Arzan Nagwaswalla
“I was Arzan's district coach when he played Under-19 and Under-23,” Gujarat selector and coach Santosh Desai told Cricbuzz.
“He's a very good left-arm fast bowler and from Under-16 and Under-19, he's been very promising. He played U-19 for Gujarat and U-23 and based on those performances he got picked for the Ranji Trophy.
“He performed really well last year in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament and in T20 and 50 overs, he has performed very well. I always felt he should get a chance. In fact, I always thought he deserves a chance in the IPL. Somehow I don't know why he didn't get it, but he deserves a chance.”
