4 takeaways from India's Test squad against England
India announced an 18-member squad for the first three Test matches against England, starting at Edgbaston from the 1st of August. Rishabh Pant earned his maiden call-up to the Test squad while Bhuvneshwar Kumar did not find a spot owing to a back issue that has plagued right throughout the tour.
In the absence of Wriddhiman Saha, Dinesh Karthik will most likely be behind the stumps and it will be interesting to see the bowling combination India go with to match with the batting in order to attain the balance which would help them beat England in their own backyard for the first time in 11 years.
The selections for the matches revealed aspects about how the selectors were thinking for the future but were careful of the present in ensuring they too get a chance to put their experience to use in English conditions.
Here are five takeaways from the team picked for the first three Tests:
Is this really the end of the road for Rohit Sharma?
It is no secret to anyone that Rohit Sharma is as different as chalk-and-cheese while playing the red ball and white ball cricket. The ease with his dominates bowlers in white ball cricket and the manner in which he struggles when the same cherry turns red is a well-known fact in cricketing circles around the world.
The Indian selectors after having persisted with him for a long time seem to have finally realised that when his name was not included in the squad selected for the first three Test matches against England.
For a large part of omission, Sharma himself is at fault. In Virat Kohli, he has a captain who ha backed him to the hilt almost, even picking him ahead of proven performers like Ajinkya Rahane and yet he has flattered to deceive.
With this non-selection, one really has to ponder: Is this end for Rohit in Test cricket? Will the selectors show faith and pick him again? Like Pujara, will it help if he plays county cricket?
The rest of 2018 should present a better picture.