1. Why KL Rahul was dropped
Rahul has been going through a modest patch as reflected in his two fifty-plus scores in the last 27 innings. His last 50-plus score was the 149 against England at the Oval in 2018. Since then, he has made several starts and promised better and bigger innings. But it never happened and the latest example was the first Test against the West Indies at Antigua when made 38 and 44. Rahul also did not find a place in the Board President's XI for the warm-up game and that means Rahul might appear for Karnataka in the Vijay Hazare match at Bengaluru.
2. Shubman Gill included
Gill has been in good form of late and made a 90 for India A against South Africa in the first unofficial Test at Thiruvananthpuram recently. He did also well for India A during the recent tour to the West Indies. However, Gill was expressed disappointment of not getting picked up for the senior team's tour to the West Indies. However, all that disappiontment now has been washed away.
3. The squad for 3 Tests
India's squad for 3 Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (Wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (Wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill.
4. Board President's XI
The selectors also announced the Board President's XI to play a three-day warm-up match against South Africa at Vizianagaram from September 26. Board President's XI: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, AR Easwaran, Karun Nair, Siddhesh Lad, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Jalaj Saxena, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Avesh Khan, Ishan Porel, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav