Umesh Yadav’s last appearance for India was in June 2023 in the WTC final against Australia.
After the squad announcement, senior pacer Umesh Yadav shared a cryptic post on his Instagram story and fans related it to the bowler being ignored for England Tests.
In the fast-bowling department, India made one change as they roped in uncapped Bengal pacer Akash Deep and left out Avesh Khan from the squad.
However, Umesh was not considered for selection. His last appearance for India was in June 2023, which happened to be the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at The Oval.
"Kitaabon par dhool jamne se, kahaaniyan khatm nahi hoti (Stories don't get over with dust accumulating on books," Umesh’s Instagram story read.
Coming to the Indian squad, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul returned to the side after recovering from injuries but their participation is subject to fitness clearance. On the other hand, star batter Virat Kohli remained unavailable for the remainder of the series due to ‘personal reasons’.
With Jadeja's return, Saurabh Kumar was left out of the squad but Washington Sundar held onto his place. In Kohli's absence, Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar retained their place in the side as well.
The third Test will commence on February 15 in Rajkot while the fourth Test kickstarts in Ranchi from February 23. The fifth and final Test of the series will be played in Dharamsala from March 07.
After the first two Tests, the series is evenly poised at 1-1. While England won the series opener in Hyderabad by 28 runs, the hosts bounced back to win the second Test in Vizag by 106 runs.
India squad for last three Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul*, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja*, Akshar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep