According to reports – No Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara in the one off test in England

Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have been out of form for the last 2 years. In the last few months, there were multiple questions on their place in the Indian team.

Rahane, The right-hand batsman had contributed with small scores but failed to achieve a big hundred except the hundred at Melbourne against Australia.

On the other hand, Pujara, India’s No. 3 did not manage to get a single century since 2019. His strike rate was questioned on many occasions.

Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, and Ishant Sharma were dropped from the Test squad. It was expected considering their age and performance. Chetan Sharma, the chief selector confirmed that he had chatted with them, and it is communicated to them that they should play in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.

India will be playing a home test match series against Sri Lanka which will start on March 5. The two-match Test series will take place in Mohali and Bengaluru. The second test will be a day-night encounter.

India’s squad for Test Series against Sri Lanka:

Rohit Sharma (C), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, Ashwin (fitness), Ravi Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep, Bumrah (VC), Shami, Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Sourabh Kumar.

In July, India will tour England to play the 5th match of the series. In 2021, India was leading in the test series by 2-1 but the last match was postponed due to a rising covid case in the Indian camp.

The match is rescheduled for July 2022. Unfortunately, Rahane and Pujara are unlikely to feature in the one-off test match.

Shubman Gill and Hanuma Vihari are being looked at as their replacements in the test team by the management. Gill is set to bat at No. 3 and Vihari at No. 6

Team management clearly indicates that Shubman Gill and Hanuma Vihari are the players for the future and will be given a long rope. Rishabh Pant, The wicket-keeper is likely to be promoted to No. 5 from his earlier position No. 6.