India Vs SL 2017: Hardik Pandya Rested For Test Series

Hardik Pandya, who was initially included in the 16 men squad for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka, has been dropped and the squad has been reduced to 15 men. Pandya was included for the first two Test matches of the three-match series beginning 16^th November at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Pandya has been a regular in the Indian team in the recent times and has produced some crucial performances at crucial stages for the Indian team.

A press release by the BCCI stated:

 “The All-India Senior Selection Committee in consultation with the Indian team management has decided to rest all-rounder Hardik Pandya for the upcoming Paytm Test series against Sri Lanka. Mr Pandya was named in the squad for the first two Tests.”

“Considering Mr Pandya’s heavy recent workload, the decision was made to negate any possibility of a major injury concern. Mr Pandya will undergo a period of strength at conditioning at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.”

The updated squad now looks like:

Virat Kohli (Captain), KL Rahul, M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-Captain), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma. 

Naman Ojha was also replaced by Sanju Samson as the captain of the BP XI due to injury. “The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Sanju Samson as captain of the Board President’s XI for the warm-up match against Sri Lanka after Naman Ojha was ruled out due to injury. Anmolpreet Singh has been added to the squad.”

Board President’s XI squad: Sanju Samson (C) (WK), Jiwanjot Singh, B Sandeep, Tanmay Agarwal, Abhishek Gupta, Rohan Prem, Akash Bhandari, Jalaj Saxena, Chama Milind, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Ravi Kiran, Anmolpreet Singh.