Southampton: Veteran speedster Umesh Yadav pipped Brisbane Test hero Shardul Thakur as the 15th member of the Indian squad that was announced Monday. India will take on New Zealand in the World Test Championship final starting here June 18. The other highlight of the squad was the selection of both spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. It shows that India may play both of them in the game against the Kiwis.
Umesh, along with Mohammed Shami, and Hanuma Vihari all of whom got injured during the Australia tour, were back in the squad of 15. The team had to be announced Tuesday as per ICC squad protocol.
Apart from Shardul, the notable names to miss out were Mayank Agarwal, and Washington Sundar. Both of them were in the playing XI for the last Test match against Australia. England series hero Axar Patel also missed out.
Even though both Rishabh Pant and Wriddhiman Saha have been kept in the 15, the former is all set to feature in the first XI. Pant has been batting wonderfully in the last couple of series and that has pushed Saha into the background.
The squad: Virat Kohli (captain) Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Md Shami Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Umesh Yadav and Hanuma Vihari.
