Umesh Yadav will join the Indian squad in Ahmedabad, which hosts the remaining two Tests versus England, the first of which is a pink-ball Day-Night game beginning February 24.
The pacer though will replace Shardul Thakur only after his fitness assessment, the BCCI said on Wednesday. If Umesh clears his fitness test, Shardul will then be released to take part in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (national one-dayers) for Mumbai.
Umesh last featured in the Boxing Day Test versus Australia at the MCG, where he bowled only 3.3 overs in the second innings before a calf injury ended his tour.
The selectors, however, have retained the rest of the squad with Mohammed Shami and Navdeep Saini still out. It remains to be seen if Shami and Saini can return for the white-ball leg of the matches versus England that begin with the first of the five T20Is from March 12, all of them to be held at the refurbished Motera Stadium.
Shami could play no part in the Australia tour after the pink-ball Test, where he fractured his right forearm to a searing Pat Cummins delivery in the second innings. Saini had sustained a groin injury during the Australia Tests.
Among the standby players, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhimanyu Easwaran can turn up for Jharkhand and Bengal, respectively, for the Vijay Hazare Trophy as they have been released.
Wicketkeeper-batsman KS Bharat and Rahul Chahar are on standby now for the remaining two Tests, while Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham and Saurabh Kumar will be the net bowlers.
