Indian players depart for England Test series, see pictures

Indian players took a flight for the tour of England on Monday to join their teammates in preparations ahead of the five-match Test series. R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara and Jasprit Bumrah are among those who will join their fellow colleagues to take part in the five-match series.

Here are some pictures of Indian players flying to England on Monday

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlkMYAcBwYc/?taken-by=cheteshwar_pujara

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlkJbqdAr_a/?taken-by=jaspritb1

The Test series against England will kick off with Virat Kohli-led team taking on England in the first Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The Indian Cricket Team will also play a 4-day warm up game against Essex starting July 25.

Fresh face in India squad for England Test series:

Rishabh Pant has been named in India Test squad for the first time. The 18-man Indian squad also feature Dinesh Karthik, who is most likely to be the first-choice wicket-keeper. The regular keeper, Wriddhiman Saha has still not recovered from a thumb injury sustained during the IPL.

Virat’s return, injury concerns:

Virat Kohli makes a comeback to the Test squad after he missed the one-off game against Afghanistan in June for a neck injury. Jasprit Bumrah has been named in the squad but is unlikely to play before the second Test as the Indian fast-bowler is still nursing a broken thumb.

Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar is another who will miss out the tour as he is dealing with a lower back condition which was aggravated during the third ODI against England in Leeds. Mohammed Shami returns to the India Test team after he missed out on selection for the Afghanistan Test failing yo-yo test.

India squad for first three England Test:

Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, M Vijay, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur and Jasprit Bumrah.