Speedster Umesh Yadav replaces Shardul Thakur for last 2 Tests

NEW DELHI: Fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who last played a Test on India's the recent Australian tour, has replaced pacer Shardul Thakur for the third and fourth Tests against England, to be played at the Sardar Patel stadium in Motera, near Ahmedabad, the Indian cricket board announced on Wednesday. Thakur has been released to represent Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

The rest of the squad that was picked for the first and second Tests in Chennai has been retained.

The third Test will be a day-night match and starts on February 24 while the fourth will be played from March 4.

The series is currently tied 1-1. While England won the first Test by 227 runs, India roared back into the series in the second Test with a 317-run win.

Yadav, 33, will join the team in Ahmedabad following a fitness test. He had sustained a calf injury on the third day of the second Test against Australia in Melbourne in December. The injury had ruled him out of the rest of the series and for the first two Tests against England.

Thakur will join the Mumbai squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy that will play their first match of the tournament on February 21, against Delhi in Jaipur.

Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem and Priyank Panchal, who were part pf the standbyes, have also been released for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, said the board statement.

Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Net bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar

Standby players: KS Bharat, Rahul Chahar. (IANS)

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