Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda has replaced an injured Umesh Yadav for India’s third Test against England in Kolkata. Dinda had been called as a cover for Ishant Sharma in the first Test and Yadav in the second Test though he did not get to play. The selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil was to announce the team for the remaining two Test matches but did so only for the Kolkata match in a clear perform-or-perish message for some of the under-performing players. “The teams for the fourth Test and the T20 International series, will be picked later,” BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement. India lost the Mumbai Test by 10 wickets inside four days and there was intense speculation a leg-spinner would be drafted into the squad to bring more variety in the spin department. But the selectors reposed faith on the spin trio of R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh despite their failure to exploit the pitch in Mumbai which was tailormade to suit India’s demands.
India Squad: M.S. Dhoni (Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Cheteshwar Pujara, R. Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Ajinkya Rahane, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay, Zaheer Khan.
Dinda replaces Yadav for third Test
