Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar among standby players for England Test series
The new selection committee named five standby players, including Rahul Chahar and Shahbaz Nadeem, for the upcoming home series versus England. Apart from the two spinners, the standby players' list also features wicket-keeper KS Bharat and top-order batsmen Priyank Panchal and Abhimanyu Easwaran.
The BCCI announced the Indian squad for the first two Tests against England on Tuesday (January 19). Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya returned to the team, while most of the players that toured Australia retained their spots.
After the squad announcement, the board also revealed the net bowlers and the standby players for this series.
Since both squads will live in bio-bubbles for this ICC World Test Championship series, getting last moment injury replacements will be difficult. Hence, both teams will have a group of standby players for different positions.
Among the five standby players of the Indian squad, only Shahbaz Nadeem has played Test cricket for India. Meanwhile, Rahul Chahar has played a T20I for the Men in Blue.
The net bowlers' list features right-arm pacers Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, and Sandeep Warrier. Karnataka's spin-bowling all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham and Uttar Pradesh's left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar will also help the Indian batsmen in the training nets.
Rahul Chahar and Shahbaz Nadeem delivered for their respective states in the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Shahbaz Nadeem will likely be the number one contender to gain a spot in the Indian squad if any spinner is unavailable. Nadeem is a veteran of 117 first-class matches, where he has scalped 443 wickets at an economy rate of 2.70.
Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar has played 17 first-class games in his domestic career, picking up 69 wickets, including seven five-wicket hauls.
Both spin bowlers turned up for their respective states in the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Rahul Chahar scalped 11 wickets in five games for Rajasthan, whereas Shahbaz Nadeem dismissed two batsmen in five fixtures for Jharkhand.
Together with Panchal, Easwaran, and Bharat, both players will head to Chennai and begin their quarantine soon.