India vs England: Skipper Kohli, Ishant Sharma and Hardik return as selection committee name 18-man squad

Bengaluru, Jan 19: Just hours after India registered a historic win over hosts Australia, to win the Border Gavaskar Trophy, the Indian selection committee, led by Chetan Sharma, met to finalise the squad for the upcoming home series against England.

The selection committee named an 18-man squad for the first two Test matches to be played at Chennai against England. While the first Test will begin on February 5th, the second match will get underway in Chennai on 13th February.

Regular skipper Virat Kohli, who has been on paternity leave since the first Test, attended the meeting virtually. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya, who lost his father last week, was also named in the 18-man squad for the first two Tests of the home series against England.

Skipper Virat Kohli is set to return for the upcoming series and Ajinkya Rahane, who led India to a historic Test series win, will be his deputy. Meanwhile, KL Rahul, who had been out injured has also made it to the squad for the first two Tests.

In more good news for the Indian side, Ishant Sharma, who missed the just-concluded Australia series due to injuries is also set to return.

Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin, who had injury concerns during the last Test has also been named in the squad.

Five standby players have been included in the squad. The standbys named in the squad, who played for India A as well, include, KS Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Rahul Chahar and Shahbaz Nadeem and Priyank Panchal.

Meanwhile, five net bowlers have also been included in the squad. Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, K Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar and Sandeep Warrier have been named as the net bowlers.

India 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, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur

Net Bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar

Standby players: K S Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar, Priyank Panchal

Source: BCCI