Natarajan, Thakur replace injured Umesh and Shami in India squad

Melbourne: The Indian cricket board (BCCI) on Friday announced pace bowler T Natarajan as replacement of Umesh Yadav in the India squad for the last two Test matches against Australia to be played in Sydney and Brisbane.

BCCI also added that Shardul Thakur had been added to the squad in place of Mohammed Shami, who was hit on his bowling arm during the first Test in Adelaide.

Umesh had sustained a strain in his left calf muscle on the third day of the second Test in Melbourne early in Australia's second innings. He limped off the field.

"Umesh Yadav sustained a strain in his left calf muscle on Day 3 of the second Border-Gavaskar Test in Melbourne. He underwent scans later in the day. The fast bowler will not recover completely ahead of the remaining two Test matches and has been ruled out of the series," said a statement from the BCCI on Friday.

"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named T Natarajan as Yadav's replacement. Ahead of the Boxing Day Test, Shardul Thakur was added to the Test squad as Mohammed Shami's replacement after the senior fast bowler suffered a hairline fracture in his right forearm. Both Shami and Umesh Yadav will head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for further rehabilitation of their injuries," added the statement.

Both Thakur and Natarajan are with the India squad as net bowlers.

Rohit Sharma, who had arrived in mid-December following his injury rehab, has completed his quarantine and has resumed practice with the Indian team.

India squad for the last two Tests: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Thangarasu Natarajan.