BCCI release Umesh Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Ranji Trophy

Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will play for Vidarbha and UP Ranji teams respectively

Team India pacers Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar along with all-rounder Gurkeerat Singh Mann have been released from the Test squad by the Indian team management. Before the second India vs South Africa test match, Gurkeerat Singh and Mandeep Singh were taken in the squad as reserves.

All of these three players can now represent their respective sides in the ongoing Ranji Trophy tournament. A statement from Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) said, “They will join their respective state teams for the next round of Ranji Trophy matches.”

The 28-year-old, Yadav, was in India’s playing XI for the first test against South Africa and was replaced by Ishant Sharma for the second that has started today.

For the Bengaluru test, two of Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy players have been roped in to assist the national side. The BCCI release also said, “Karnataka Ranji Trophy players, Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal will assist the Indian team as reserve players during the second Test Match at Bengaluru.”

Umesh Yadav will now represent his state team Vidarbha in a Group A Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan which will be played from November 15 to 18. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be playing for his team Uttar Pradesh in the next match against Tamil Nadu in Kanpur.

In a previous statement, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had said that it is important to retain reserve bench players as the team might need fielders any time. He had told Wisden, “I think most players want to play (in the Ranji Trophy), but at the same time we’ll see what’s best for our team.” During an earlier test match Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma were part of the side but were not named in playing XI. MSD, while answering whether they should be released, had replied, “Of course we want players to play, we’ll see. If there’s something we can do, we’ll definitely do it. But we don’t want to do any unnecessary things.”

Previously during the ongoing series, BCCI had released Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Stuart Binny, allowing them to take part in Ranji Trophy. A BCCI statement had said that these three will be joining the national team before second test match.