India batsman Rohit Sharma posted a motivational message on Twitter after he was snubbed from the 18-member squad for the first three Tests of the five-match Test series against England on Wednesday (July 18).
Rohit, who looked in terrific touch during the limited-overs series, doesn’t seem to be too worried by his omission as his tweet read: “Sun will rise again tomorrow”.
Sun will rise again tomorrow ????
— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) July 18, 2018
Sharma's tweet clearly suggests that he hasn't given up on his Test dream as yet. Rohit had a memorable UK tour. While the Mumbaikar recorded the scores of 97 and 0 in the two-match T20I against Ireland, he amassed 137 runs in the following three Twenty20 Internationals against England, including a century at Bristol. Rohit also smashed an unbeaten century (137 off 114 balls) in India’s 8-wicket win in the first ODI at Trent Bridge last week.
Meanwhile, the Indian selectors have surprised everyone by naming young Rishabh Pant in the Test squad. The 20-year-old Rishabh has been selected as a backup option to wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik. However, a surprise was the exclusion of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who aggravated his ongoing back problem by playing in the deciding ODI at Leeds, where he bowled 7 overs for 49 runs and didn’t get a wicket.
The highly-anticipated Test series between India and England will commence on August 1 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Lord’s will host the second Test while Trent Bridge, Rose Bowl and The Oval will stage the third, fourth and fifth Test respectively.
India squad for first three Tests against England:
Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur.
Itinerary:
Aug 01 - Aug 05, 1st Test – Edgbaston, Birmingham
Aug 09 - Aug 13, 2nd Test – Lord's, London
Aug 18 - Aug 22, 3rd Test – Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Aug 30 - Sep 03, 4th Test – The Rose Bowl, Southampton
Sep 07 - Sep 11, 5th Test – Kennington Oval, London
