India is all set to play in the World Test Championship and it announced its final squad. Ravindra Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, and Mohammed Shami have made a return for the five-match series against New Zealand. Three of them suffered injuries during the tour of Australia and also missed out on the home series against England.
Abhimanyu Easwaran, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, and Arzan Nagwaswalla have been considered as four standbys. While Easwaran is a batsman, the other three can cover up as net bowlers.
The selectors have dropped Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav who were a part of the home series against England On the other hand wicket-keeper batsmen KL Rahul and Wriddhiman Saha have been held before they enter as the duo will go through a fitness test. Saha was tested for COVID-19 whereas KL Rahul went through surgery for appendicitis.
The other unexpected drops came in the form of Prithvi Shaw and Bhuvneshwar Kumar where Shaw had good domestic and IPL season but was still dropped and fitness issues continued for Bhuvi as he was also dropped.
It will be fairly interesting to see how the team manages to go without their crucial players.
