The BCCI on Tuesday announced the return of Virat Kohli as India’s Test captain for the upcoming Test series against England in Chennai. The announcement by the Indian cricket board came on a day Ajinkya Rahane created history by leading his side to register a thrilling win in Brisbane and clinch the four-match Test series 2-1.
According to the BCCI, the All-India Senior Selection Committee met on Tuesday to pick the squad for the first two Test matches to be played at Chennai against England. Players selected for the series are Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya (VC), KL Rahul, Hardik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur.
Siraj, Pant, Sundar and Thakur have been rewarded for their impressive performance during the just-concluded Australia tour.
The selection committee also picked five net bowlers and five players as standbys. These net bowlers are Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham and Saurabh Kumar.
The board has also included KS Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar and Priyank Panchal as standby players.
India on Tuesday defeated Australia in Brisbane, where the hosts had not lost a Test match in 32 years. Rahane had earned plaudits for his leadership skills and leading a bunch of inexperienced players to create history Down Under. Many experts had demanded Rahane’s elevation as the full-time captain for the Indian Test squad.