Fast bowler Ishant Sharma has made a comeback into the Indian Test squad for the first two Tests against England after missing out on the entire Test series against New Zealand recently due to illness. The lanky pacer is one of three fast bowlers included in the side, the others being Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav.

India’s batting line-up has taken a hit as KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are injured and will miss the start of the England series. The experienced Gautam Gambhir, who made a comeback to the Indian Test team during the series against New Zealand, will most likely open the batting alongside Murali Vijay in the first Test.

As expected, the Indian selectors have decided to go with a spin-heavy bowling line-up, naming as many as four specialist spinners in the squad.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who are considered as India’s frontline spin bowlers, are joined in the team by Amit Mishra – who was named the Man of the Series in the ODI series against the Blackcaps – and the uncapped Jayant Yadav.

Jayant Yadav is one of three uncapped players in the squad, along with Karnataka batsman Karun Nair and Baroda all-rounder Hardik Pandya. While Yadav and Nair were in the squad for the third Test (but did not play) against New Zealand, this is the first time that Pandya has been included in an Indian Test squad.

The first Test is scheduled to begin on November 9 at Rajkot, while the second encounter will held at Visakhapatnam from November 17.