BCCI names unchanged India squad for first two Tests against Australia

Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) senior selection committee today named an unchanged India squad for the first two Tests against Australia, which registered a comprehensive victory against Bangladesh in the one-off Test match played in Hyderabad.

The four-match rubber will commence from February 23 with the first match scheduled to be held at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, followed by the next three matches at Bengaluru (March 4-8), Ranchi (March 16-20) and Dharamshala (March 25-29).
Opener Rohit Sharma, spinner Amit Mishra and pacer Md Shami, who are suffering from injury, were not selected.

On the other hand, opening batsman Abhinav Mukund, Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav and all-rounder Hardik Pandya have retained their place in the 16-member squad.
The visiting Australian squad, led by skipper Steve Smith, arrived here yesterday and will play a three-day warm-up game against India A at the Brabourne Stadium from February 17-19 in Mumbai before the series.(UNI)

SQUAD: Virat Kohli (C), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, W Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya.(UNI)