Tamil Nadu all-rounder Vijay Shankar got a maiden call-up into the Indian Test team as replacement for Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the Test series against Sri Lanka. Indian squad for the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka was announced with seamer Bhuvneshar Kumar and senior opener Shikhar Dhawan being released. It will be a 14-member squad for the second Test scheduled to be played in Nagpur from November 24-28.

While Bhuvneshwar will not be available for the next two Tests due to his marriage, Shikhar will be available for the third Test after tending to personal matter.

“The BCCI would like to inform that Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan have been released from India’s Test team. The duo made a request to the selectors and the team management to release them owing to personal reasons,” a BCCI release stated.

“Kumar will not take any further part in the ongoing Paytm Test series against Sri Lanka and the All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Vijay Shankar as his replacement. Dhawan is available for selection for the third Test,” it further stated.

Shankar is not expected to play in the second Test as Murali Vijay is the reserve opener in the squad and Ishant Sharma is the third pacer.

However this is the maiden national call-up for the Tamil Nadu One-Day captain, who has scored 1,671 runs and taken 27 wickets in 32 first-class matches. He has been playing for India ‘A’ for some time and also is next in line after Hardik Pandya as the seam bowling all-rounder.

India Test squad

Virat Kohli (Captain), K.L. Rahul, M. Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar.