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Gambhir recalled, Zaheer out as India name Test Squad for England

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India has recalled the experienced Gautam Gambhir in its 18-man Test Squad for the England tour. Gautam Gambhir, the victorious Kolkata Knight Riders team earns his place in the Indian team after a long gap of one and a half years. His successful opening partner in the past – the explosive Virender Sehwag continues to be ignored though by the National Selectors. Gambhir is the third opening batsman in the squad after Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay.

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The Selectors have finally omitted the aging warhorse Zaheer Khan from the test team. Zaheer Khan as we know had toured South Africa and New Zealand with little success and his retirement from the highest level was on the card following lackluster bowling spells. However, Zaheer had an extended run and a back injury during IPL 7 has made the Selectors doubt his fitness levels.

From the squad that toured New Zealand, three players have been dropped – quicks Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav along with AT Rayudu. The omission of Umesh Yadav is indeed surprising as he had shown his capabilities on the fast and bouncy tracks of Australia while missing out on selection during the tours of South Africa and New Zealand without any reason.

Varun Aaron, arguably India’s fastest bowler ever gets recalled in the Test team after a long gap. Also in the squad is the hardworking Rajasthan pacer Pankaj Singh. The 29-year-old Pankaj Singh is a tall bowler known for seaming the ball around at speeds in the mid 130 kmph. Pankaj Singh has so far played a lone One Day International in 2010 against Sri Lanka at Harare and ended up with figures of 7-0-45-0.

The biggest selection perhaps was that of Karnataka’s Stuart Binny. Son of former India player Roger Binny, Stuart is a terrific choice for English conditions. Like his father, Stuart Binny has the wonderful ability to swing and seam the ball a big way although he lacks in serious pace. Stuart Binny is also a hard-hitting middle order batsman but whether his talent is of international standard remains to be seen.

India Test Squad for England Tour: MS Dhoni (Captain & Wicket Keeper), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishwar Pandey, Ishant Sharma, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron, Wriddhiman Saha (Wicket Keeper) and Pankaj Singh