Gambhir, Ishant likely to be picked for England series

All eyes will be on the Delhi duo of opener Gautam Gambhir and pacer Ishant Sharma, when the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) national selection committee meet here to choose the team for the England Test series on Wednesday.

Gambhir, who made a comeback in the just-concluded New Zealand series, gave a good account of himself by scoring a half century in the final Test at Indore before accumulating 147 in Delhi's last Ranji Trophy match against Odisha.

Ishant, on the other hand, was picked for the the opening Test against the Kiwis at Kanpur but could not play any part in the rubber after being down with chikungunya.

Though Ishant did not look match fit in Delhi's Ranji game against Karnataka at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the seasoned campaigner bowled more than 40 overs at good pace in his two domestic outings.

With opener Lokesh Rahul still nursing a hamstring strain and seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar dealing with an ankle injury, Gambhir and Ishant will be the likely options when the M.S.K. Prasad-led selection panel picks the side.

No other major changes are expected in the Virat Kohli-led side, which whitewashed the Kiwis 3-0.

The Indian squad is set to assemble on November 5 at Rajkot, which is set to host the series opener from November 9 to 13.

The other Tests are slated to be held in Vishakapatnam (November 17 to 21), Mohali (November 26 to 30), Mumbai (December 8 to 12) and Chennai (December 16 to 20).

The five-match series will be a litmus test for the No.1-ranked home side, with England having won the last three Test series between the two nations -- two in England and one in India.

--IANS

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