Pandya became the Test player No. Kohli had earlier hinted at the inclusion of the all-rounder into the playing XI because of his ability to pick wickets. "We got a guy like Hardik Pandya who has a knack of picking wickets. Shikhar Dhawan also returned after a gap of almost 10 months as regular opener KL Rahul was ruled out of the first Test because of viral fever. However, Rohit Sharma, who also played his last Test in October, failed to make the cut.

Source: India Today July 26, 2017 04:52 UTC