All-rounder Hardik Pandya has been left out of India’s squad for the remaining two Tests against Australia in an otherwise unchanged team announced by the BCCI on Thursday.
Pandya, who did not feature in the playing XI for the first two Tests, has been released to play in the knockout stages of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, PTI reported. No replacement was named.
Meanwhile, opener Murali Vijay was retained in the squad despite sitting out of the second Test in Bengaluru due to a shoulder injury. Abhinav Mukund, who was drafted in as a last-minute replacement for Vijay in the game, failed to impress after falling for 0 and 16 in the two innings.
Pacer Mohammed Shami who has been on the road to recovery following a lengthy injury lay-off could not find a place into the team. Batsman Rohit Sharma, who recently played two matches for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare following two months on the sidelines through injury was also ignored.
The series is level at 1-1 heading into the third Test to be played at Ranchi from March 12-16. The fourth and final Test will be played at Dharamsala from March 25-29.
India squad
Virat Kohli (Captain), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jayant Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.
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