England vs India 2018: Jasprit Bumrah likely to miss first three Tests

After missing out on the T20I and ODI series against England, Jasprit Bumrah looks set to miss the first three Tests against England as well, due to a thumb injury he suffered during the opening T20I against Ireland in June. In his absence, Kuldeep Yadav, who was impressive in the limited-overs leg of the series against England is expected to get the call along with Mohammed Shami, who is finally fit to take his place in the squad.

BCCI are expected to announce the squad for the first three Tests against England on Wednesday and Bumrah is expected to not make the cut. According to Cricinfo, Rishabh Pant is also likely to get his maiden Test call-up after the uncertainty about the fitness of Wriddhiman Saha.

Bumrah fractured his finger during the T20I series against Ireland and was ruled out of the T20I and ODI series against England. He returned to India and was in a race against time to be fit before the first Test against England on August 1. His absence now means that Shami, who was originally expected to be in the reckoning for the limited-overs squads to face England but didn't as he failed the mandatory yo-yo test.

Having recently cleared it, he is likely to take his place in the squad and join fellow fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav in the squad ahead of the first Test at Birmingham.

With Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja expected to the front-line spinners for Virat Kohli, Kuldeep's performance in the T20Is and ODIs against England, where he finished as India's leading wicket-taker looks to have pushed his case for a spot in the Test side.

"Our squad is pretty settled. We are really excited to be going into a lengthy Test series. It is going to be very challenging, but something that we are looking forward to as a side," Kohli said.