Marking his return from an injury suffered during the tour of Australia, India pacer Umesh Yadav has cleared his fitness test and has been added to the squad for the last two Tests of the ongoing series against England.
Umesh appeared for a fitness test on Sunday, 21 February at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad where India will play the third Test starting from Wednesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed.
“Shardul Thakur has been released from the squad to take part in the Vijay Hazare Trophy,” the board’s secretary Jay Shah said in the statement.
Umesh had pulled up with a problem in his leg during the second Test against Australia. He had sustained a strain in his left calf muscle on day three of the second Border-Gavaskar Test in Melbourne that India eventually went on to win.
The series against England is finely poised at 1-1 going into the final two games, the first of which is a day-night affair in Ahmedabad beginning on February 24 with the fourth Test scheduled for March 4. Umesh could now be a frontrunner to feature in the match if India decide to go with three pacers with the pink ball.
India need to win one of the remaining two Tests and avoid defeat in another to qualify for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand.
India squad for the last two Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj, Umesh Yadav
