Murali Vijay axed as India announce squad for fourth and fifth Test against England; Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari included

DELHI: Uncapped batsmen Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari have been included in India`s squad for the final two tests against England, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Wednesday.

Opening batsmen Murali Vijay was dropped after his disappointing show in the first two tests at Edgbaston. 

The 34-year-old was replaced by Shikhar Dhawan in the team for the third test which the visitors won to narrow England`s lead to 2-1 after three matches of the five-game series.

Wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav was sent home to play for India A team in two four-day matches against Australia A.

The 18-year-old Shaw earned his maiden test call-up on the back of a string of strong performances for India A, including a knock of 188 against West Indies A last month.

Vihari has been one of the most consistent performers in domestic cricket, averaging 59.79 in 63 first-class matches.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin retained his spot in the squad despite struggling with a hip injury during the third test.

The fourth test begins on Aug. 30 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.

Full squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Karun Nair, Hanuma Vihari. 

The All-India Senior Selection Committee also selected the India A team for the two four-day games against Australia A to be played in Vizag.  

India A squad for the two four-day games against Australia A: Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, R Samarth, A Easwaran, Ankit Bawne, Shubman Gill, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Shahbaz Nadeem, Kuldeep Yadav, K Gowtham, Rajneesh Gurbani, Navdeep Saini, Ankit Rajpoot, Mohd. Siraj