India on Thursday named a 13-member squad to take on hosts Australia in the second Test match in the second Test at the Perth beginning Friday. Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin been not been included in the squad due to injuries.
India defeated Australia by 31 runs in the first match to take a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series for the first time in 70 years. This was India's sixth Test win on Australian soil.
While Aswhin was instrumental in India's win with his 6 wickets Sharma had scored 38 runs in the two innings. The two suffered back and side injuries respectively during the match.
The two have been replaced by Hanuma Vihari and pacer Umesh Yadav. Ravindra Jadeja is now the only spinner in the team.
Prithvi Shaw, who sustained an ankle injury in the warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI Sydney, was "recovering well" but was not yet available for selection, a BCCI statement said.
The four-test series in Australia will be the last chance in 2018 for India to match their away performance with the formidable record at home. While Virat Kohli's side has not lost a home series since late 2012, it was beaten 2-1 in South Africa and 4-1 in England earlier this year.
India name 13-man squad for 2nd Test: Virat Kohli (C), M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav