India vs Australia 2017: India announce 16-member squad for first two Tests of the Border Gavaskar series vs Australia
The Indian squad for first of the two Tests in the four-match Border-Gavaskar Test series was announced earlier today.
The squad comprises of almost the same set of players who featured in the one-off Test against Bangladesh at Hyderabad. Practically all the players find themselves retained for the series, beginning in Pune from the 23rd of February.
Kuldeep Yadav, who was picked as a replacement for Amit Mishra, finds a place for himself in the squad after the former failed to recover in time. Abhinav Mukund also retains his spot as the third opener in the 16-ma squad.
The series will be the last phase of India's long home season, which has seen them play New Zealand, England and Bangladesh.
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They whitewashed the Kiwis 3-0, before beating England by a 4-0 margin in a five-match Test rubber. They then completed a resounding 208-run win over Bangladesh in the one-off Test on Monday.
The victory was also India's 5th consecutive Test victory, and Kohli's unbeaten run now stands at a very impressive 19.
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Ahead of the Test series, the Australians will be featuring in a three-day warm-up against India A at the Cricket Club of India, starting from the 16th of February.
The India A squad will be captained by Hardik Pandya and boasts of some impressive names, who have done well on the domestic circuit.
Squad for the first two Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund & Hardik Pandya