Iyer goes out for the remaining part of the test series: Virat Kohli unavailable

Rahul and Jadeja are on the squad, but they need to be cleared for play; Akash Deep receives his first Test call-up.

For the final three Test matches against England, Shreyas Iyer has been left out of the Indian team. The 17-man squad includes Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul, although their availability is contingent upon receiving the BCCI medical team’s fitness clearance. Due to hamstring injuries, Jadeja missed the second Test while Rahul was out with a quad ache.

Bengal seamer Akash Deep received his first-ever Test call-up, as Virat Kohli is still sidelined due to personal issues.

With the exception of Rohit Sharma, Iyer was the only senior Indian batsman to fail to score much in the first two Tests; he made 35 and 13 in Hyderabad and 27 and 29 in Visakhapatnam. Despite being regarded as one of India’s top hitters against spin, Iyer had trouble with both his defense and his strokeplay.

A day or two after the second Test, Iyer reportedly suffered from back spasms, although ESPNcricinfo was informed that he was fit to play. In the meantime, both Sarfaraz Khan, who is yet to receive a cap, and Rajat Patidar, who made his debut in Visakhapatnam and scored 32 and 9, have kept their places.

Against the England Lions in a recent three-match red-ball series, Deep was remarkable, finishing as India A’s top wicket-taker with 11 wickets at an average of 18.72. He previously played for India in the Asian Games winning team and for the KL Rahul-led team in the ODI series against South Africa.

The other seamers in the team are Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah. Mohammed Shami is still out as he recovered from an ankle injury. In November, he made his final appearance for India at the ODI World Cup.

INDIA SQUAD: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (wk) and Ravindra Jadeja