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Jasprit Bumrah in action for Indian cricket team© AFP
Indian cricket team fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will not be available for all five Tests in the upcoming series against England, BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar said on Saturday. BCCI announced the squad for the upcoming series with Shubman Gill becoming the new captain and Rishabh Pant being appointed his deputy. During the press conference, Agarkar said that Bumrah will not playing all the matches due to his fitness concerns. "Don't think he'll be available for all five Tests. Whether it's four or three, we'll see based on how the series goes and his workload is. Even if he's fit for 3-4 Tests, he'll be an asset for us. Just happy he's part of the squad. He's more important to us a player,” Agarkar said.
The selectors decision on the team's leadership was on expected lines following the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Young left-hander B Sai Sudharsan earned his maiden Test call-up.
The squad also features Karun Nair, who returns to the national set up up after seven years. A notable exclusion was pacer Mohammed Shami, who was deemed not fit enough for the long series.
"Last year or so we have looked at Shubman (for leadership). We are hopeful he is the guy who is going (to take the team forward). It is a high pressure job but he is a terrific player. We wish him all the best," said chief selector Ajit Agarkar after announcing the squad.
On Shami, he added: "His workload is not where it needs to be. We were hoping he will be available but it is unfortunate. At the moment he is not dully fit. From tour of Australia, Harshit Rana and Sarfaraz Khan have been dropped.
India team for England: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (WK and VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and Kuldeep Yadav.
(With PTI inputs)
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