The BCCI, on Wednesday (February 17), announced Team India's squad for the third and fourth Test against England. Fast bowler Umesh Yadav will return to the squad for the remainder of the series provided that he clears the fitness test, the BCCI announced. Umesh was sidelined after sustaining a calf injury during the Boxing Day Test in Australia.
The pacer will join the team in Ahmedabad and will replace Shardul Thakur in the squad after passing the test. Thakur, on the other hand, will be released for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, starting from February 20. There are no other changes to the squad that was named for the first two games. Recent reports suggested that Mohammed Shami and Navdeep Saini were likely to be named in the squad but BCCI has decided against rushing their comeback.
"Umesh Yadav will join the team in Ahmedabad and after his fitness assessment will replace Shardul Thakur, who will be released for Vijay Hazare Trophy," said BCCI in a release.
Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem and Priyank Panchal have also been released to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham and Saurabh Kumar have been named as net bowlers while KS Bharat and Rahul Chahar have been named as standbys.
The four-match series is currently locked at 1-1 after India won the second Test by 317 runs to draw level. England had won the series-opener by 227 runs. India need to win the ongoing series by 2-1 or 3-1 to make it to the final of the ICC World Test Championship. England, on the other hand, need to win both games to progress.
Squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj