Kishan, SKY picked for first 2 Australia Tests; Bumrah out

Ishan Kishan earned his maiden Test call-up, while Suryakumar Yadav was also included for the first two Tests of the four-match series against Australia next month.

Rohit Sharma is back to lead the team after he missed the two-Test series in Bangladesh because of injury.

It was no surprise as Suryakumar made it to the Test squad following his amazing run with the bat in T20 cricket, but he could find it tough to break into the playing XI with Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer already part of a strong middle order.

Suryakumar boosted his Test chances, hitting 90 against Hyderabad and 95 against Saurashtra in the two Ranji Trophy matches he played for Mumbai recently, but it is clear that his sensational performances with the bat in T20 cricket were instrumental in his Test call up.

On the other hand, Mumbai's run machine Sarfaraz Khan must be gutted at not getting the nod despite his unbelievable run with the bat in domestic cricket. Sarfaraz has been one of the most consistent batters in Ranji Trophy in the last few years, with 3380 runs in 36 first class games, with 12 centuries and nine fifties. In fact, his first class batting average of 80 is only second to the legendary Don Bradman.

He has proved to be unstoppable in domestic cricket. In the ongoing Ranji Trophy season, he has already hit 431 runs in five matches at an average of 107. He tallied 900-plus in the previous two seasons to become the first player to achieve the feat in successive tournaments.

In a major blow pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who had to pull out of the ODI series against Sri Lanka, has not been named in the Test series. Bumrah's return to action has been delayed further as he has failed to recover fully from his lower back stress fracture.

Bumrah sustained a lower back stress fracture post England tour and missed the Asia Cup last year.

To improve the team's chances at the T20 World Cup, Bumrah was rushed to the T20 side during a home series against Australia, where he broke down once again and was ruled out for an indefinite period.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who is also coming back from injury, was named in the Test squad but he will have to undergo a fitness test before he is cleared to join the team.

"Ravindra Jadeja’s inclusion in the squad is subject to fitness," BCCI said in a media release.

Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav are the other spinners in the squad.

In the absence of Bumrah, Mohammed Shami will lead the pace attack, which includes Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat, who was retained following his good showing in Bangladesh last month.

K S Bharat is the other wicketkeeper in the squad along with Kishan, with Rishabh Pant facing a long time on the sidelines after sustaining multiple injuries in a car crash last month.

India’s squad for first 2 Tests vs Australia: Rohit Sharma (captain), K L Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, K S Bharat (w/k), Ishan Kishan (w/k), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.