The BCCI announced India's roster for the first two Test matches against England on Friday. A five-match Test series between India and England is set to begin on January 25 in Hyderabad. The series will come in the ongoing 3-match T20I series against Afghanistan, that India currently leads by 1-0 and will play their 2nd T20I in Indore on Sunday, January 14, 2024.

3 things you need to know

• From January 25 to March 11, India and England will take part in a five-match Test series.
• Hyderabad will host the opening game, with Vizag, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamsala to follow.
• Three wicketkeepers have been added to the Indian team, while Ishan Kishan has not.

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Kumar Sangakkara has made a huge statement regarding the selection of Dhruv Jurel

Kumar Sangakkara, the director of cricket and current coach of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and former cricketer from Sri Lanka, expressed his happiness on Friday with the inclusion of Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel in the national team for the home Test series against England. Sangakkara gave Jurel great marks, noting his excellent situational awareness and admirable work ethic. Dhruv has been called up unexpectedly and will be part of the Indian team for the first two Tests, which begin on January 25. As quoted by ANI, Kumar Sangakkara  said:

"Very proud and happy because one of our key motivators and one of our key kind of performance indicators away from the IPL is producing players for India and we have produced quite a lot over the years and Dhruv being a new addition,"

“He is a fantastic young man. He is a really good player who has worked really hard to get where he is. He understands pressure. He came in last season in one of the most difficult positions and scored so many runs for us. He is an absolute match-win in the short format. Jurel's work ethic and demeanour stand out,”

In the Indian Premier League (IPL) of 2023, Dhruv Jurel played as a finisher for Rajasthan Royals (RR), scoring 152 runs in 13 games at an average of 21.71 and a blistering strike rate of more than 172. In the First-Class format, encompassing 15 matches, Jurel demonstrated his batting talent by accumulating 790 runs at an outstanding average of 46.47. Within 19 innings, he earned a century and five half-centuries, having a top score of 249. In his time playing domestic cricket for Uttar Pradesh, Jurel has proven to be a capable and dependable batter.

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India’s squad for 2 Tests against England

Rohit Sharma (C ), S Gill, Y Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, S Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan.