ENG vs IND 2018: Prithvi Shaw And Hanuma Vihari Earn Maiden Test Calls, Kuldeep Yadav And Murali Vijay Dropped

India have announced the squad for the remaining two Test of the five-match England vs India Test series. The world number one Test side have handed maiden Test calls to Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari.

India have dropped their opener Murali Vijay and Kuldeep Yadav from the squad for the last two Tests. The two have been replaced by Shaw and Vihari. Both the players recently impressed for India A.

Vijay was dropped after failing in the first two Tests before being axed from the playing eleven for the third. The right-hander, who has six single-digit scores in his last 11 innings, scored 20 and 6 in the first Test before bagging a pair at Lord’s. On the other hand, Kuldeep could not take a single wicket at Lord’s.

Prithvi Shaw has been a consistent run-maker for India A this season – in ten matches (four first-class and six List A games), he has made 759 runs, with four hundreds and two fifties, at an average of nearly 60.

Shaw also captained India to the Under-19 World Cup title in February this year.

On the other hand, Hanuma Vihari has been one of the most consistent performers in India’s domestic circuit. He averages 59.79 from 63 first-class matches. No one currently playing first-class cricket has a has a better average.

Both Shaw and Vihari struck centuries against South Africa A in Bengaluru at the start of August.

India keep series alive:

India currently trail the series 2-1. After an enthralling limited-overs series, the world number one Test side suffered reverses in the first two Tests at Edgbaston and Lord’s respectively. However, they bounced back in style at Trent Bridge to keep the series alive. It was one of the best all round displays by Team India in overseas conditions in recent years.

Asked to bat first in testing conditions, the team rode on fifties from Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane to post a challenging 329.  In reply, England were all out for just 161. Hardik Pandya was the star of the show, picking up his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests for just 28 runs.

India’s batting clicked in the second essay too. Kohli once again led from the front, scoring a sublime 103. Cheteshwar Pujara and Hardik Pandya also scored fifties as India declared their innings on 352 for 7, thus setting England a target of 521. England were staring down the barrel after being reduced to 62 for 4. Jos Buttler then scored his maiden Test ton, scoring 106 and added 169 runs with Ben Stokes to give his team a glimmer of hope.

However, Jasprit Bumrah ran through the middle and lower-order, picking up 5 wickets to give India the much-needed win.

The crucial fourth Test will get underway at The Ageas Bowl, Southampton on August 30.

India’s squad for the last two England vs India Tests:

Virat Kohli (C), Dhawan, Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Pujara, Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ashwin, Jadeja, Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Shami, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hanuma Vihari