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There are just few days left before the commencement of the first test match of the five match test series between World's No.1 test team India and World's No. 5 test team England at Edgbaston on August 1.
In order to win its first test series in England since 2007, the Indian cricket team have announced a strong 18 man squad consisting of 7 batsmen, 2 wicketkeepers, 3 spinners and 5 fast bowlers, with Hardik Pandya being the sole seam bowling all-rounder for the starting 3 test matches.
The last time when the Indian team toured England for a test series was in June-July 2014, when the visitors failed to hold on to their 1-0 advantage after winning the 2nd test at Lords, and lost the five match test series by a 1-3 margin, after losing the last three test matches.
Ten players who were part of India's previous test tour to England have lost their places in the Indian test team, with few of these players test career being almost finished.
So, in these article let us look at 10 of those players who are missing from India's previous test tour to England:
#10. Naman Ojha
Madhya Pradesh batsmen, Naman Ojha was one of the two back up wicket keepers in the Indian test squad during India's previous test tour to England in 2014, but did not get a chance to play even a single test match.
Despite being a heavy run scorer in the domestic circuit, Naman Ojha might consider himself unlucky to be born in the wrong era as his career coincided with that of MS Dhoni which meant Naman Ojha hardy got enough chances to represent the Indian team on international arena.
Having last played for India in August 2015 in a test match against Sri Lanka at Colombo and with age also not on his side, it is safe to say that Naman Ojha's international career is over for now, as the likes of Wriddhiman Saha, Dinesh Karthik and even young Rishabh Pant have become Indian team's preferred wicket keepers for test matches.
#9. Wriddhiman Saha
Just like Naman Ojha, Wriddhiman Saha was also was one of the two back up wicket keepers in the Indian test squad during India's previous test tour to England in 2014, and just like Naman Ojha did not get a chance to play even a single test match.
Wriddhiman Saha made his Test debut for India on January 2010 against South Africa at Nagpur, but it was only after the retirement of MS Dhoni from Test cricket in December 2014 that Saha become the first choice wicket keeper of Indian Test Team.
Saha missed out on selection this time around for the five match test series in England due to a shoulder injury, and is expected to be out of action for at least two months due to botched up rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
#8. Ishwar Pandey
Madhya Pradesh fast bowler Ishwar Pandey was one of the seven fast bowlers in the Indian test squad during India's previous test tour to England in 2014. Ishwar Pandey, however did not get a chance to play even a single test match.
Ishwar Pandey is the most unluckiest cricketer to have ever been selected for Indian team, as despite being part of Indian cricket team for entire 2014 international season, Ishwar Pandey did not get a chance to debut for India in any off the three formats, as he was confined to benches for every series India played in 2014, and was finally dropped and never called back again.
#7. Pankaj Singh
Pankaj Singh first broke into Indian test team for India's tour to Australia in 2007-08, due to injuries to S. Sreesanth and Munaf Patel. However, Pankaj Singh was confined to benches for the whole tour, and later on dropped.
After toiling hard in the domestic circuit for the next six years, Pankaj Singh was rewarded with a selection in the Indian test team for the tour of England in 2014, due to stupendous domestic season with the ball in 2013-14 for Rajasthan.
Pankaj Singh finally made his much awaited test debut in the third test of the series, because of an injury to Ishant Sharma. However, Pankaj Singh ended up having a disappointing debut test match, as he failed to pick up a single wicket and also saw Ravindra Jadeja dropping a sitter of English skipper Alastair Cook of his bowling, which later on proved costly for the Indian team.
Pankaj Singh, did go on to play the next test match, but was dropped for the final test match as Ishant Sharma recovered from his injury and was discarded forever.
#6. Varun Aaron
Considered to be one of the fastest bowlers to have ever played for India, Varun Aaron warmed the benches for the first three tests against England, but played the last two test matches by replacing an out of form Mohammed Shami.
Although, Varun Aaron failed to create much of an impact in the two test matches he played, but is widely remembered by cricket fans in that particular series, for breaking the nose of English pacer Stuart Board with a brutal bouncer in the 4th test match.
Unlike Ishwar Pandey and Pankaj Singh, Varun Aaron was however part of Indian setup until 2015 before his inconsistency with the ball and frequent occurrences of injuries derailed his international career.
#5. Stuart Binny
With Irfan Pathan being frequently prone to injuries, Karnataka all-rounder Stuart Binny was selected as the sole pace bowling all-rounder in the Indian test squad during India's previous test tour to England in 2014.
Stuart Binny went on to make his test debut in the very first test match of the series, and impressed everyone with tight bowling and scored a half century in the 2nd innings of the first test match, making Indian fans start dreaming about the arrival of next pace bowling all rounder.
Binny failed with both and ball in the 2nd test match at Lords, and was dropped for the next two tests. Binny, however played the final test match of the series, but once again failed to impress. Despite his failure in test matches against England, Stuart Binny was part of Indian setup until 2016, before the emergence of Hardik Pandya cost Binny his place in the team. The Karnataka all-rounder last played for India in August 2016.
#4. Gautam Gambhir
The man behind India winning the ICC T20 World Cup 2007 and ICC ODI World Cup 2011 and also the unsung hero of Indian Cricket, Gautam Gambhir was the reserve opener in the Indian test squad during India's previous test tour to England in 2014.
Gautam Gambhir played the last two test matches of the series by replacing an out of form Shikhar Dhawan. Gambhir, however ended up having a shocker of a series as he could score only 25 runs from the four innings he batted on the tour.
Having already lost all his place in the Indian team in all the formats post 2011 World Cup to Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan coupled with emergence of KL Rahul, and also with age not on his side it looks highly unlikely that Gautam Gambhir will ever don the Indian colors once again.
#3. Rohit Sharma
Despite his brilliant performances in shorter formats of the game, Rohit Sharma has failed to deliver as per the expectations in the test formats so far with the bat especially outside sub-continent conditions.
During India's previous test tour to England in 2014, Rohit played the 3rd and 4th test match of the five match series but failed to do much and was dropped for the final test with Stuart Binny being preferred ahead of him.
Due to his weakness against moving red ball, Rohit Sharma was ignored this time around for the test series in England as selectors decided to give young Karun Nair a chance ahead of him.
Although, Rohit Sharma's test career is currently not over, but if he fails to improve upon his weakness against the moving ball, then Rohit might find it difficult to get a place in the Indian test squad in future.
#2. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Off all these players in these list, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the only one who could still make it to the Indian test team for the tour of England this time around if he recovers from his lower back injury.
Last time around when India toured England for a test series, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was man of the series along with James Anderson and was also India's standout bowler and highest wicket taker with 19 wickets.
In that particular series, Bhuvneshwar Kumar even impressed everyone with the bat and scored two half centuries and was one of the chief architects behind India winning the second test match at Lords.
His absence from the Indian team for the first few matches will really hurt the balance of the side.
#1. MS Dhoni
Off all these players in these list, India's most successful captain ever MS Dhoni is the only one to have retired from test format.
MS Dhoni, announced his retirement from test cricket in December 2014 after scoring 4,876 runs in 90 test matches at an average of 38.09, apart from taking more than 250 catches as a wicket keeper.
During India's previous test tour to England in 2014, MS Dhoni was India's second highest run scorer in the series with 349 runs in 10 innings behind Murali Vijay who scored 402 runs in 10 innings.
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