Indian cricket team fast bowler Mukesh Kumar was released from the squad for the third Test match against England in Rajkot. Mohammed Siraj made a return to the playing XI while Mukesh will now join the Bengal side for their next Ranji Trophy fixture. BCCI took to social media to reveal the reason behind releasing the pacer. “Mr Mukesh Kumar has been released from the India squad for the third Test against England in Rajkot. He will join his Ranji Trophy team, Bengal, for the team’s next fixture before linking up with Team India in Ranchi,” BCCI wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
India won the toss and decided to bat first against England in the third Test match of the five-game series at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday.
Ahead of the third Test, players like Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel were handed their Test caps.
UPDATE: Mr Mukesh Kumar has been released from the India squad for the third Test against England in Rajkot.
He will join his Ranji Trophy team, Bengal, for the team’s next fixture before linking up with Team India in Ranchi.#TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 15, 2024
English skipper Ben Stokes is to play his 100th Test match. Meanwhile, star India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is likely to take his 500th Test wicket. On the other hand, James Anderson looks for 700 wickets.
The series is currently level at 1-1. After a 28-run loss in the first Hyderabad Test, India won the second Test at Visakhapatnam by 106 runs.
While speaking at the toss, India skipper Rohit said that Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar will miss the third Test match. He also confirmed that Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja will play in the Rajkot Test.
“We’re going to bat first. We’ve made some changes, made four changes. Some injuries and some guys coming back from the last game. Two debutants. Siraj and Jadeja are back. Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar miss out. Looks a good pitch, better than the last two we’ve played on. Rajkot is known to be a good pitch but it’ll deteriorate as it goes. The guys have stood up and done the job for the team when it was needed. The next three Test matches will be as exciting as the first two. Need to keep our focus here and see how we can do well,” Rohit said.
The English captain said that Mark Wood will replace Shoaib Bashir in the squad for the visitors.
England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes (Wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson.
India XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (Wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
(With ANI inputs)
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