India Vs England 2021: Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel back for England test; Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar retained; T Natarajan misses out

Representative image.

Experienced speedster Ishant Sharma, who missed the just concluded Australia tour due to an injury, was on Tuesday included in an 18-member Indian squad named for the first two Test matches against England, starting on February 5 in Chennai.

According to ESPNcricinfo, left-arm spinner Axar Patel has also found a place in the squad. Both matches will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

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Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel.

Standbyes: KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Abhimanya Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar

Net bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, K Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar