The India team for the first two Test matches of the five-match series at home this year against England was revealed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday.
On January 4, the team captained by Rohit Sharma won its maiden Test match in Cape Town, propelling them to the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) rankings.
The first Test match between the squad and Hyderabad will take place at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on January 25. Dhruv Jurel, an Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper-batter, is called up for the first time to the national team. He, behind KS Bharat and KL Rahul, will be the team's third option behind the stumps.
Veterans Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara are still not selected for the team, and Ishan Kishan is not included either. The remainder of the batting lineup is dressed similarly to the group that went on tour in South Africa.
The pace section, led by Jasprit Bumrah, the appointed vice-captain, now includes Avesh Khan. The other fast bowlers are Mukesh Kumar and Mohammed Siraj. To defeat the English at home, India will mostly rely on its spin department. Kuldeep Yadav has been chosen to provide support just like he had done in the ODI World Cup 2023 and R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel are also nominated in terms of providing depth to th team.
Rohit Sharma (C ), S Gill, Y Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, S Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan.
Ben Stokes, Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pop, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.