India’s squad announced for Sri Lanka tour; Amit Mishra, KL Rahul included

The 15-member Indian squad that will be touring Sri Lanka to play a 3-match Test series was announced today by the selection committee headed by Sandeep Patil. There were no surprise inclusions or exclusions in India’s squad apart from picking up Amit Mishra, following the success of Pakistani leg-spinner Yasir Shah on Sri Lankan pitches earlier this month.

KL Rahul, who recently scored a brilliant 96 for India A against the visiting Australia A team on the opening day of a First Class game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, was also included in the squad. The 23-year-old was not a part of the Test squad that toured Bangladesh for the lone Test. Rahul’s illness forced him out of the squad but he is back to his best of health and cricketing form.

Karn Sharma was excluded from the squad following an injured finger that he took up in a limited overs game against Zimbabwe earlier this month. The selectors have gone with three specialist spinners namely Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra.

The Indian team will fly for Sri Lanka on August 1, with the first Test to be played on August 12 at the Galle International Stadium.

India Squad:

Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra.