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Team India will commence their home Test season with a two-match Test series against Bangladesh, starting from September 19. The Test series will see return of star players, including Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, among others. But ahead of the series opener, reports are making rounds on social media that India is set to go with three spinners while Axar Patel is set to miss out.
India’s star spinner, R Ashwin will return to action after last featuring in the Test series against England at home. Moreover, Ravindra Jadeja, who retired from T20Is after India’s T20 World Cup triumph, will also return to the field for the first time since June after he was rested from the Sri Lanka ODI series. Reports quoting PTI also added that the Indian team is then set to go with Kuldeep Yadav over Axar Patel, completing the spin trio.
Rishabh Pant set to return after hiatus; KL Rahul to get a nod ahead of Sarfaraz Khan
Moreover, star Indian wicketkeeper-batter, Rishabh Pant is set to return to red-ball cricket with the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh. Pant will play his first Test after surviving a horrific car crash in December 2022. Furthermore, KL Rahul is set to get a nod ahead of Sarfaraz Khan on the back of his performances before suffering an injury.
“For people on the outside, they don't understand how a team works and what are the systems in place. In his last three Test matches, KL scored a century in South Africa, one of the best Test knocks in recent times and 86 at Hyderabad in the last Test he played before injury. He was not dropped but got injured. So, he is fit and available, scored a fifty in Duleep, got match time and he will start,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by The Wire.
India’s squad for first Test vs Bangladesh
Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.
India’s Probable Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav
