Pacers mukesh kumar

Test Border Gavaskar Trophy: Seasoned pacer Mohammed Shami was the notable absentee as the senior men's national selection committee named a strong side for the upcoming five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series in Australia starting on November 22 in Perth. The selectors have given a first opportunity to Indian Premier League (IPL) star Nitish Kumar Reddy and pacer Harshit Rana in the red-ball series.

Shami, who is out of action since last year's 50-over World Cup final due to an injury followed by a surgery, had recently said that though he started bowling but would only like to first play some domestic matches before getting into the national squad.

With Shami absent, the selectors have bolstered the pace attack by including youngsters Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana, who will hope to join Bumrah, Mohd Siraj and Akash Deep in the pace attack in the Test series against Australia which will follow soon after the ongoing home series against New Zealand.