Bhuvneshwar returns to the Indian team

Bhuvneshwar Kumar had to play for Uttar Pradesh in its Ranji Trophy contest against Mumbai at Mysore to prove his fitness.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar sustained a back injury during the second test in Kolkata against New Zealand in October.

Swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been selected in the Indian squad for the last three Tests against England. Opener Gautam Gambhir has been dropped from the team. The veteran opener made 29 and 0 in the first Test against England at Rajkot and lost his place in the eleven to K. L. Rahul in the second Test.

Gambhir’s omission and the non-inclusion of Shikhar Dhawan means Murali Vijay and Rahul are the only specialist openers in the squad.

Bhuvneshwar had a five-wicket innings haul in the second Test against New Zealand at Kolkata but subsequently suffered a back strain. The paceman had to play for Uttar Pradesh in its Ranji Trophy contest against Mumbai at Mysore to prove his fitness.

Indian Team Squad: Virat Kohli (capt.), Ajinkya Rahane, K. L. Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravhichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Karun Nair and Jayant Yadav.