CHENNAI:The Board of Control for Cricket in India is set to seek a report from the team-management over the inclusion of Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the third ODI against England on Tuesday, which has left his participation in the upcoming Test series in doubt. On Wednesday, the senior national selection committee, which picked the squad for the first three Tests, left Bhuvneshwar out citing an aggravated lower back condition sustained during the third ODI. A decision to include him will be made by BCCI’s medical team after further scans.
With the Test series set to commence from August 1, Bhuvneshwar left for London to see a specialist doctor and sources close to the team-management told Express that the pacer will not be fit for the first three Tests, and there is a strong possibility that he might miss the entire five-match series. Bhuvneshwar will return to India and undergo rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for at least four weeks.
Sans Bhuvneshwar, who is supposed to be the leader of the pack, the selectors named an 18-member squad with Rishabh Pant getting a maiden call-up to the Test side. Left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also been included alongside Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The pace department will be manned by Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Shardul Thakur. Bumrah, as reported by this newspaper, is expected to be fit before the second Test begins at Lord’s on August 9.
Prior to the selection, skipper Virat Kohli had indicated how the team might look to feature both wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep. But selectors have accommodated only Kuldeep and turned down the proposal to include Chahal for the second successive time for an overseas assignment. Stumper Wriddhiman Saha, as expected, doesn’t find a place and so does Rohit Sharma. Karun Nair, who replaced him for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, has been retained. The squad has seven specialist batsmen, three all-rounders and two wicketkeepers.
Pant, in fact, had not even made it to the initial India A squad for the tour of England, but came in as replacement for Sanju Samson, who failed to clear the Yo-Yo test. However, he returned with decent numbers and has scored four fifties so far and still has one innings left. Though there were no surprise picks, Express understands that team-management’s handling of Bhuvneshwar hasn’t gone down well with the BCCI top brass. It is reliably learnt that secretary Amitabh Choudhary, who is also the convenor of selectors, questioned the move to include the pacer on Tuesday when he was not completely fit.
Bhuvneshwar has been struggling with a back injury since the South Africa tour and he was even rested for the Nidahas T20 Cup held in Sri Lanka. Then during the IPL, the same injury resurfaced and he had to miss 12 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad. The selectors then even rested him for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, but he made it to the limited-overs leg of UK tour after clearing a Yo-Yo test. “When you have Yo-Yo test mechanism going around, it is surprising that an injury of this magnitude hasn’t been addressed for so long. He first complained about back injury during the IPL and after that even cleared a fitness test. If he wasn’t fully fit, then how was he cleared to play?” a board official asked.
The move to increase the squad strength to 18 has also not impressed certain sections of the BCCI, who felt it is a huge number to have given the physio and trainer have declared all selected players fit, apart from Bumrah. “They picked 17 for South Africa and now it is 18. It is understandable if there were niggles. But when all are fit, why have such a big squad?,” the official added.
Squad for first three Tests
Kohli (C), Dhawan, Rahul, Vijay, Pujara, Rahane, Nair, Karthik (wk), Pant, Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur.
Noteworthy inclusions
Rishabh Pant
Currently part of India A, he hit an unbeaten 67 in the 2nd unofficial Test vs West Indies A & guided team to win. Having been used to the conditions for a month now, Pant’s solid batting has earned him a maiden Test call-up.
Kuldeep Yadav
Best bowler for India so far in UK tour, England’s batsmen have struggled to read the chinaman’s line and length. His ability to pick up wickets even on a pitch that is not spinner-friendly has made him unique.
venkatakrishna@newindianexpress.com