IND vs ENG: India and England will meet at the Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham, on July 1 to conclude the five-Test series which remained unfinished from last year. India, who lead the series 2-1, opted out of the fifth and final Manchester Test last year in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak within the Indian squad.
The Test was rescheduled for July this year with a change in venue. Both the teams now will meet for the conclusion of what was a highly entertaining, competitive series.
Both India and England will also be led by different captains than the two who led in the first four Tests. The Indian squad has been announced and there are a number of players from the squad last year who are not present for the current touring party.
India’s Test squad for Birmingham Test:
Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc) Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
Here are 7 players who were part of the squad last year in England, but not picked for the fifth IND vs ENG Test:
Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane played in all the four Tests then, scored only 109 runs at an average of 16 with one half-century in 7 innings. He was earlier dropped from the team, and replaced by Shreyas Iyer.
Rahane got injured during the IPL 2022 and was ruled out for this fifth Test, however, it was always unlikely that he was going to be picked.
Ishant Sharma
Ishant Sharma too was dropped earlier this year for the Sri Lanka series after not playing any of the three Tests in South Africa. Ishant has struggled with injury over more than a year. He featured in 2 of the 4 Tests last year in England, after the WTC final, and picked 5 wickets in those 2 Tests while often erring in his lines. Prasidh Krishna replaces Ishant as the tall, hit-the-deck fast bowler in the Test squad.
Mayank Agarwal
Mayank Agarwal has been dropped as Shubman Gill returns to the squad. Gill, who opened alongside Rohit in the WTC final, missed the 4 Tests in England last year due to injury. Agarwal suffered a concussion on eve of the first Test paving way for KL Rahul to open and Rahul grabbed the chance with both hands and is now the first-choice opener.
Agarwal struggled for a big knock on the South Africa tour and the Sri Lanka series – he didn’t hit a single fifty in his last 8 Test innings – and now has eventually been dropped with the return of Gill.
Abhimanyu Easwaran
West Bengal’s Abhimanyu Easwaran was part of the squad last year in England as a backup opener and didn’t any game. He’s now been dropped with Gill’s return. With just a solitary Test now, India are taking three opening options to England.
Prithvi Shaw
Opener Prithvi Shaw was a late addition to the Test squad and was available only for the fourth Test. But now he hasn’t got back on the national selectors’ radar.
Wriddhiman Saha
Wriddhiman Saha has been the back-up wicket-keeper for Rishabh Pant and got to play against New Zealand last year when Pant was rested. Saha was then dropped for the Sri Lanka series as the selectors preferred a young backup keeper in KS Bharat; Saha, who didn’t play any game on England tour last year, is unlikely to play for India again.
Suryakumar Yadav
Similar to Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav was a late addition to the Test squad and was available from the fourth IND vs ENG Test. Yadav was part of the squad against New Zealand as well but Shreyas Iyer made his Test debut ahead of SKY, who is now not selected for the fifth Test.
