Sharma Misses England Test Series Opener

2 Nov 2016 | Cricket
India have omitted injured batting trio KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma for the first two Tests against England.

Rahul, who struck three hundreds in nine matches, injured his hamstring during the first Test against New Zealand in September.

Dhawan, who replaced Rahul for the second Test, fractured a thumb in that match while Sharma could miss the whole series with a thigh injury.

Fast bowler Ishant Sharma returns after recovering from an illness which ruled him out of the Test series against New Zealand, which India won 3-0.

Baroda all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who has played just 16 first-class matches, has been included for the first time.

The first Test starts in Rajkot on Wednesday 9 November.

India: Virat Kohli (captain), R Ashwin, Gautam Gambhir, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Karun Nair, M Vijay, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav

England return to Cardiff to play South Africa in the third NatWest IT20 on June 25th and earlier that month will take on New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy group fixture. Match tickets for both games are now on sale, with all categories available for the South Africa fixture whilst only family tickets are currently available for New Zealand game. Click below to purchase:

England v New Zealand 6th June

England v South Africa 25th June