India has retained M. Vijay in its squad for the final two Test matches against Australia, while opting not to include the recovering Mohammed Shami. Vijay missed the second Test after having injured his left shoulder while diving in the field in Pune. With the third Test beginning in Ranchi only on March 16, though, the Tamil Nadu opener seemingly has time to make a full recovery. Abhinav Mukund, who featured in Vijay's place in Bengaluru, keeps his spot in the 15-member-unit.
Shami, meanwhile, made his comeback from a knee injury this week, when he played one game for Bengal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but that was the fast bowler's first competitive outing since the Mohali Test against England in November. Rohit Sharma, who returned from a thigh injury that had kept him out since October - he underwent surgery for it - to play two matches for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, has not been selected either. Hardik Pandya, who was unavailable for selection in Bengaluru with a shoulder issue, has been left out of the squad.
The third and fourth Tests will be played in Ranchi (March 16 to 20) and Dharamsala (March 25 to 29) respectively.
The team: Virat Kohli (c), M. Vijay, K.L. Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, R. Ashwin, R. Jadeja, W. Saha, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jayant Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, and Abhinav Mukund.
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