India announce squad for one-off Test against Bangladesh

Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund has made a comeback to the national squad for the one-off Test against Bangladesh, set to be played in Hyderabad from February 9. He will be the third opener in the 16-man squad, replacing Shikhar Dhawan. The southpaw had scored 849 runs in 14 innings at an average of 65.30 - which included four centuries and three half-centuries in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy season. He played Test for India in 2011.

Wriddhiman Saha, who is fit and in form following the match-winning double century in the Irani Cup has returned to the side. His inclusion has led to the ouster of Parthiv Patel, who had scored a match-winning century and led Gujarat to a win in the Ranji Trophy final.

Ajinkya Rahane too has returned to the side. Offspinner Jayant Yadav missed the final Test against England in Chennai due to a hamstring injury. Vijay, injured his shoulder during the final Test and didn`t open the innings. He eventually batted at No.6 and was later withdrawn from the Tamil Nadu squad for their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal clash. After regaining fitness, he replaced Dinesh Karthik in the Tamil Nadu squad for the inter-state T20 tournament and scored 16 against Goa on Tuesday and has retained his spot in the Test squad.

Rahane made a return as well after being ruled out of the final two Tests against England with a fracture in his right index finger. He featured in the recently concluded One-Day International series against England played in the final game.

R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra and Jayant Yadav are the four spinners, while Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya are the four pacers. Mohammed Shami, who is undergoing rehabilitation for a knee injury, does not find a spot. He has been out of action since the third Test against England.

The selection committee meeting which was set to start at 12 noon, was delayed by six hours after Amitabh Chaudhary was asked not to convene the selection committee meeting by Chief of Committee of Administrators Vinod Rai.

This will be the first time Bangladesh will play a Test in India.

Squad: Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra, Abhinav Mukund, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya.

Source : cricbuzz