Shaw, Vihari named in India squad

India’s U-19 World Cup winning captain Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari have been named in Team India’s squad for the final two Tests, the selectors announced today. Shaw, who averages 56.72 in first-class cricket with seven hundred have been making all the right noises for a while now. His inclusion comes on the back of impressive numbers which includes 188 against Windies A at Beckenham, 62 against England Lions at Worcester and 136 vs the Proteas at Bengaluru.

#TeamIndia for the last two Tests against England, India A squad for four-day matches announced.

Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari included in India's 18-man squad; Shreyas Iyer to lead India A.

Full details here – https://t.co/inudPXJGa8 pic.twitter.com/YFxoxchDEz

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 22, 2018

The first indication of Hanuma Vihar up in the selection radar came when back in June when he was picked up for both 50-overs and four-day games in India A’s tour of England. The Andhra batsmen made good use of the opportunity and racked up 253 runs in three games. Vihari is at the summit of an elite list. Among contemporary cricketers, Vihari has the highest First-Class average of 59.45.

Meanwhile, Murali Vijay, who endured a pair in the Lord’s Test and was subsequently dropped at Nottingham, has been released from the squad alongside left-arm Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav; Bhuvneshwar Kumar continues to be at the sidelines following a back injury he’d aggravated during the 3rd ODI back in July.

India will go in the Southampton Test on the back of a 203-run shellacking of hosts England, trailing 1-2.

The fourth Test will start at the Ageas Bowl on August 30th, 2018.

India Squad for the last two Tests:-

Virat Kohli (C), Dhawan, Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Pujara, Rahane, Shami, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ashwin, Jadeja, Bumrah, Ishant Sharma