India on May 22 handed a Test match comeback to Cheteshwar Pujara for the rescheduled fifth Test of last year’s series in Edgbaston, starting July 1st. The selectors have recalled the veteran right-hander after dropping him in the aftermath of India’s disappointing 2-1 Test series loss earlier in the year in South Africa.
Pujara, axed for the two World Test Championship fixtures in March versus Sri Lanka, returns for the critical encounter in his team’s campaign as the last edition’s runners-up look to go one step further in the summer of 2023.
The right-hander has earned his nod after a prolific run of games at the first-class level. Upon his return to the domestic game in March for Saurashtra, Pujara mustered a pair of half-centuries in the Ranji Trophy league stage. But what really tilted the scales back in his favour was his recent stint with Sussex in the County Championship in the UK.
The 34-year-old blasted a whopping 720 runs in his eight innings for the Division 2 rivals, including four hundred plus scores, with two of those above the 200-mark.
Pujara’s return is the headlining aspect of a 17-man touring party selected for the Edgbaston Test. India have retained their core group for the standalone game but with a two notable changes. Opening batter Mayank Agarwal has been dropped after a string of low scores against South Africa and Sri Lanka. Young quick Prasidh Krishna has been given a maiden call-up for the Test squad to face England.
Before the Test match, Indians will play a four-day warm-up match against Leicestershire county side from June 24, which would act as a preparation ground for the much-anticipated fixture in Birmingham.
Given the super quick turnaround from the IPL 2022 before the England tour, the selectors have rested captain Rohit, as well as senior pros Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami for the T20I series against South Africa, starting June 9.
The T20I side, to be led by KL Rahul and his deputy Rishabh Pant, has a mix of regular members and a few notable inclusions from the IPL 2022. Among these is comeback man Dinesh Karthik, who has been tremendous for Royal Challengers Bangalore as an end-overs specialist.
Playing a key role in RCB’s surge to the playoffs, Karthik has blasted his 287 runs at a strike-rate of 191.33 while averaging 57.40. He makes his return to the T20I set-up after a contentious sacking back in mid 2019.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) speedster Umran Malik are other two major inclusions from this year’s edition of the IPL. While Arshdeep bagged his 10 wickets for PBKS at an economy rate of 7.82 bowling efficiently at the top and in the end-overs, Malik, the middle-overs enforcer, enters the Indian squad with 21 scalps at 8.93 runs an over.
The selectors have brought back premier allrounder Hardik Pandya in the squad, too, after a prolonged absence from the national side since the T20 World Cup in UAE last November. Proving his fitness as Gujarat Titans skipper in IPL 2022, Pandya has made 413 runs and bowled his overs at 7.79 runs an over.
Apart from stand-in captain Rahul and deputy Pant, middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer is the only other T20I incumbent who is also part of the Test squad for Edgbaston. It will be interesting to see how the selectors and the team management manage their participation in the Leicester warm-up game, which begins only 5 days after the end of the South Africa series on June 19.
Also up for speculation is the squad not yet picked for the two T20I matches that India will be playing in Ireland on June 26 and 28.
