Before the first Test against England, Indian captain Rohit Sharma has started practicing in the nets. India’s series of five Test matches against England will begin on January 25 in Hyderabad and end on March 11 in Dharamshala with the fifth and final Test. Mumbai Indians (MI), the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions and Rohit’s team in the league, shared pictures from Rohit’s net session on X, which was previously known as Twitter.
Rohit has a good record against England, scoring 747 runs in 17 innings and nine Tests with an average of 49.80, including two centuries and three fifties. His highest score is 161.
In Indian conditions, Rohit has an excellent record, scoring 2,002 runs in 24 Tests with an average of 66.73, including eight centuries and six fifties in 36 innings. His best score is 212.
During England’s last tour to India in 2021, Rohit scored 345 runs in four Tests with an average of 57.50, including a century and a fifty in seven innings. His best score was 161.
In the recent T20I series against Afghanistan, Rohit scored two ducks before making a powerful 121* in 69 balls, hitting 11 fours and eight sixes.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel has been called up for the first two Tests in the Indian Test squad. However, injured star fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who is still recovering, was not named in the squad. India batter Ishan Kishan, who took a break during the South Africa tour and Afghanistan T20Is, is also not part of the squad.
Rohit will be the captain, with star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah as the vice-captain. India has added three wicketkeepers – KL Rahul, KS Bharat, and Dhruv Jurel – to the squad.
The Test squad for the first two matches includes four spinners: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav. In addition to a strong pace attack, India has included Avesh Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mukesh Kumar in the 16-member squad.
The middle-order positions will be filled by Virat Kohli, Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Shubman Gill in the unchanged batting lineup.
Squad for first 2 Tests vs England: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), and Avesh Khan.
