India vs South Africa: Jadeja called up for Test squad; Ishant, Ashwin expected to be fit

India have recalled Ravindra Jadeja to the Test squad to face South Africa on the back of strong performances in the Ranji Trophy and possibly a desire to provide cover for an injured R Ashwin. Jadeja, who has taken 24 wickets in four innings for Saurashtra, has been picked in the 16-player squad for the first two Tests in Mohali and Bengaluru. Meanwhile Umesh Yadav has been dropped from the ODI squad for the last two games and Karnataka medium-pacer Sreenath Aravind has been called up. Aravind played the first T20I against South Africa but was dropped for the second and third. Yadav, however, retains his place in the Test squad. Ishant Sharma, who will serve his one-match suspension in Mohali, Varun Aaron, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Stuart Binny make up the rest of the pace attack. [caption id=“attachment_1652509” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Ravindra Jadeja. Reuters[/caption] Amit Mishra is the third spinner in the Test squad, which means Harbhajan Singh has been left out after an underwhelming return in the solitary Test he played in Sri Lanka. Jadeja’s inclusion for Harbhajan is the only change to the original squad that won the three-match series in Sri Lanka. Wriddhiman Saha, who has recovered from injury, returns to replace Naman Ojha, who made his debut in the third Test in Colombo in place of Saha. The selectors have also picked Ravichandran Ashwin, currently nursing a side strain, for the first two Tests of the four-match series but he has not been included in the squad for the two remaining ODIs. “Ishant has been declared fit for the second Test match”, head of the selection committee Sandeep Patil said. “He will not take the field during the first Test because he has been suspended by the ICC but because he is available for the second Test, we all felt it would be better for him to join the team from the first Test itself.” “For Ashwin, we have got a report from the Indian team physio. Ashwin’s fitness test will be conducted just before the fourth ODI (in Chennai) but he will certainly be fit for the Test matches,” Patil added. South Africa currently lead the five-match ODI series 2-1. The remaining two matches will be played in Chennai and Mumbai respectively on 22 October and 25 October. The Test series will begin from 5 November with Mohali, Bengaluru, Nagpur and Delhi as the venues respectively. The announcement of the team was made by the BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur after a meeting of the selection committee headed by Sandeep Patil in New Delhi. India ODI squad: MS Dhoni (capt, wk), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Axar Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Mohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, S Arvind, Stuart Binny, Ambati Rayudu, Gurkeerat Mann . India Test squad (first two Tests): Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma. Board President XI: Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Unmukt Chand, Karun Nair, Shreyar Iyer, Naman Ojha, Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Nathu Singh, Karn Sharma, Sheldon Jackson With inputs from PTI