Jadeja recalled for first two Tests against South Africa
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was recalled to the Test side by the National selection committee for the first two Tests of the Freedom series against South Africa at its meeting in New Delhi on Monday. The southpaw finds a place in the national squad after nearly 14 months. Pacer, Ishant Sharma, was also named to the Test squad.
Sharma's selection clears doubts over his fitness after he had sustained a hamstring injury during a Ranji game last week. Sharma will, however, miss the first Test following a one-Test ban after admitting to charges of misconduct during the third and final Test against Sri Lanka in August-September.
The selectors also made just one change –paceman Sreenath Arvind for Umesh Yadav – to the ODI squad for the remaining two matches in the five-match series, which the tourists lead 2-1. The fourth ODI will be played in Chennai on October 22.
Ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was rested for the remaining ODIs to recover from a side strain that saw him sit out of the second and third ODIs.
The four-Test Freedom series will commence on November 5 in Mohali, followed by matches in Bengaluru, Nagpur and Delhi.
The squads:
India ODI squad:Â MS Dhoni (capt, wk), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Axar Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Mohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, S Arvind, Stuart Binny, Ambati Rayudu, Gurkeerat Mann.
India Test squad (first two Tests): Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma. Board President XI: Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Unmukt Chand, Karun Nair, Shreyar Iyer, Naman Ojha, Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Nathu Singh, Karn Sharma, Sheldon Jackson.