Karun Nair dropped as India announce the Test squad for Sri Lanka series

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the 16-member squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka that is set to begin on the 21st of July. The 16-member squad is more or less similar to the squad that won against Australia in the last Test series that Kohli and co played.

The opening duo would return after a long layoff following the stressful five-match Test series against Australia, where India ended up as winners 2-1.

Opening the batting for the country in Test away from home would be KL Rahul and Murali Vijay, who has been the preferred option for the Indian team, while Pujara retains his place at No.3. The Indian skipper Virat Kohli is set to take his place in the Playing XI at No.4, while Rahane and Rohit Sharma might have to tussle for the No.5 place.

At No.6, it would not be a surprise to see the wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, who will maintain his place despite the poor showing in the Indian Premier League, while Ashwin and Jadeja would take the No.7 and No.8 place. The management might have to make a decision amongst the four bowlers, out of which only three might get a chance to play against the Island nation. Jayant Yadav has been dropped from the squad, following his inconsistent performance against the side from down under.

Mukund and Kuldeep retained

Kuldeep Yadav retains his place in the squad, following his heroics in the previous series against Australia, where he made his debut for the nation while Hardik Pandya will have to wait to make his debut for the team. Abhinav Mukund retains his place in the squad, despite failing to impress the critics in the single game that he played against Australia, where he failed in both the innings.

It will be interesting to see if Rohit Sharma would make it to the playing XI after impressing the selectors in the concluded Champions Trophy, where he was the second leading run-scorer for the country while Shami remains an option on the bench with Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma preferred ahead of the right-arm seamer.

India Test squad vs Sri Lanka: Virat Kohli (C), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund