India have announced an 18-man squad for the maiden World Test Championship [ WTC ] final against New Zealand at Lord’s and the five Tests against England thereafter.
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Virat Kohli will lead the side, with Ajinkya Rahane remaining his deputy. Rishabh Pant is slotted in as the official wicketkeeper as of now, with both KL Rahul and Wriddhiman Saha pending fitness clearance. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal are the three specialist openers in the squad.
Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Arzan Nagwaswalla have been picked as standby players. One of the most notable exclusions from the squad is swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar and all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who was a part of India’s last tour to England.
Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Navdeep Saini and Prithvi Shaw also miss out. There are no surprise inclusions in the 18-man squad, with all big names making the cut.
The inaugural World Test Championship final will take place at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton between June 18 to 22, 2021. It will be followed by a five-Test series against England, which begins at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on August 4.
India squad for World Test Championship final and England Tests:
India’s squad: Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav.
KL Rahul & Wriddhiman Saha (wk) subject to fitness clearance.
