Mohammed Shami set to return, Wriddhiman Saha doubtful for England Tests

Mohammed Shami

The Indian squad for the much-awaited five-match Test series against England, which gets underway at Birmingham from August 1, is set to be announced today in the United Kingdom. The visitors are playing a five-match Test series against England for the first time since the November 2016-17 home series which India won 4-0. Chief selector MSK Prasad and his other two colleagues are set to announce a big squad, not restricting it to just 15 members.

Pacer Mohammed Shami is certain to return to the Test squad after missing out on the one-off Test against Afghanistan in May for failing the YoYo test, the fitness benchmark set by the Indian team management. While Shami has cleared the rigorous YoYo test, doubts still persist over wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha's recovery from injury. Saha's chances of making it to the Test squad for the England series are quite slim, it is learnt.

Pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who recently underwent a surgery on his thumb, too is doubtful to recover at least for the first couple of Tests. In such a scenario, the three-member selection panel is likely to pick Dinesh Karthik, who is already with the Indian team for the limited overs series against the Englishmen. Kuldeep Yadav too is expected to be drafted into the squad, after skipper Virat Kohli recently dropped a huge hint regarding the chinaman's inclusion in the longest format.

The selectors will also look to reward performers from the India 'A' team to ensure there are enough replacements in case of an injury during the series. After the ODI series, there will be a mini break of almost a week for players and the team's support staff before they assemble to kick off their preparations for the Test series.

Catch up on all the latest T20 news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates