Hardik Pandya has been withdrawn from India's squad for the Tests against Sri Lanka, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Friday (November 10), to manage the allrounder’s workload. Pandya had been named in the squad that was selected for the first two Tests, but the selectors have now opted to rest him from all the Test matches. “Considering Mr Pandya’s heavy recent workload, the decision was made to negate any possibility of a major injury concern,” said Amitabh Choudhary, the BCCI secretary.

Pandya will instead undertake a period of strength and conditioning at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. Since the Champions Trophy final on June 18, Pandya has shouldered heavy workload, playing three Tests, five Twenty20 Internationals and 17 One-Day Internationals. This included away tours of the Caribbean and Sri Lanka followed by home series against Australia and New Zealand.

In a separate development, Sanju Samson was named captain of the Board President's XI side for the two-day warm-up clash against the Sri Lankans starting from November 11 in Kolkata, with Naman Ojha ruled out through injury. Anmolpreet Singh, who has impressed in his debut Ranji Trophy season for Punjab, has been added to the squad. The first of three Tests will take place in Kolkata starting November 16, while Nagpur and Delhi will play hosts to the second and third Tests respectively.

India Test squad for first two Tests: Virat Kohli (capt), KL Rahul, M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-capt), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma.

Courtesy:ICC